The ‘Introduction’ explains how architecture goes about doing what it does. Buildings keep us warm and dry, and are closely involved in the practicalities of living, but ‘architecture’ always has a cultural dimension to it, if we choose to pay attention to it. The aim of this VSI is to open up ways of thinking about architecture that show how rich the topic is. A chronology of the broad periods of architectural style and the more detailed divsions within periods are discussed and an overview of the following chapters is also provided.