It is a pleasure to personally welcome you to my web site, Architecture in the Classical Tradition. I invite you to use it, to enjoy it, and to send me your impressions. My purpose in creating this web site starting in 1996 was to share with you my reflections based on over forty years of teaching, photographing, studying, writing about, and helping to preserve our built environment.

One of my goals has been to help people understand and come to love architecture by overcoming the barriers many feel prevent them from doing so -- architecture seems so technical, hard to visualize three dimensionally, and has a vocabulary of unfamiliar technical as well as stylistic terms. My aim is to demonstrate that these barriers are easily surmounted.

Part of the confusion arises from the tendency to fragment the evolution of architecture in the Western world from around 1500 BC onwards. My approach differs fundamentally. It stresses continuity, emphasizes links between past and present rather than disparities, and investigates themes that transcend architectural practice over the ages. It weaves an ongoing story beginning in the dim mists of time. But the storyline frequently departs from a strict chronological progression to explore other paths. Above all, my story about architecture is a personal one. It evokes my enthusiasms: places I associate with; concepts I endorse; buildings I have photographed on my travels. Through words, images, and sounds I try to convey to you the enjoyment I take in all aspects of the classical tradition in architecture. At the same time, I include the opinions of respected authorities whose viewpoints may vary from mine. I also encourage you to enter into a dialogue with me, much as you might with a teacher.

Yours sincerely,

Pierre du Prey
Professor Emeritus & Director of ACT
Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada
pduprey@queensu.ca