Simon Armstrong

Want to know more about the buildings around you? Can't tell a Doric from a Corinthian column? Interested in how the Egyptians built the pyramids, and how on earth a dome stays up? Then this book is for you. Packed with absorbing facts and quirky illustrations, Cool Architecture tells you everything you need to know about architecture around the world, from the simple dwellings created by the earliest humans to today's most innovative buildings, via forbidding medieval strongholds, great 18th-Century palaces and the classic Art Deco skyscrapers of New York. Learn about the great architectural movements and the personalities that created them, and explore the most iconic buildings in the world, from the Parthenon in Greece to the (current) world's tallest skyscraper, the Khalifa Tower in Dubai. This book is a perfect introduction to what's cool about the fascinating world of architecture. Word count: 20,000

Street Art is a phenomenon and subcultural movement that reaches from the darkest urban backstreets to the most glamorous international art fairs. Simon Armstrong examines how it evolved from its origins in the 1970s New York graffiti scene to embrace many new materials, styles and techniques along the way, tracing how this marginal art form graduated into art galleries and the art market, while also heavily influencing design, fashion, advertising and visual culture. Despite having earned a place in the canon of 20th-century art history, Street Art's qualifications are often disputed both by the art establishment and practitioners themselves, all concerned with notions of authenticity. Examining Street Art's controversial history in detail, this book provides a full-colour worldwide journey, taking in all of the movement's significant artists and artworks, styles, materials and methods, and showcasing the works that have come to define it more than any other. It also examines its close relationship to Pop Art and Digital Art, and explores possible futures for Street Art.