Can an the classical speak to the pluralist age? In a series of informative and critical essays, Demetri Porphyrios emphatically asserts that traditional architecture has always had an indubitable and enriching relationship with the contemporary and will continue to do so. The role of imitation, tectonics, ornament, and originality in architecture is discussed and complemented with excerpts from the major classical texts on architecture.This perceptive book, now available for the first time in paperback at a price accessible to students, celebrates the richness and relevance of traditional building forms and techniques, arguing for an historical, informed, innovative architecture.