An account of one of the most interesting phenomena of contemporary architecture: the return to the structure. Over the last ten years architecture would seem to have rediscovered engineering. Now that the post modern period has passed--in which the structure of buildings was camouflaged by coverings of every kind--architecture today seems to have undressed, almost as though wishing to show how it is made. The rediscovery in recent years of plastic form has brought about a closer relationship between architects and engineers. To this we must add the rise of new issues, such as that of environmental engineering, which has changed from being solely a technical and aesthetic practice into a movement in environmentally conscious architecture. If there is a phenomenon today that is able to hold together the various expressions of contemporary architecture, it is this return to the structure and the methods with which it is realized. Through its six thematic categories, this book provides an account of one of the most interesting phenomena of contemporary construction--the laying bare of architecture.