Modern Architecture: The BasicsBy Graham Livesey (Routledge, 2024)Review Ian ChodikoffReading an architectural textbook many years after architecture school may seem like rereading the road safety manual we used when preparing for our drivers license examination. In both cases, its to our benefit to re-evaluate what we learned years ago in a contemporary voice.From my vantage point, reading through Graham Liveseys tightly constructedModern Architecturewas a worthwhile exercise, if only to recalibrate, cross-check, and validate the beliefs Ive evolved about my chosen profession during the intervening decades from first learning about the Farnsworth House, critical regionalism and the Crystal Palace.Modern Architecture is part of Routledges The Basics series of slim introductory textbooks that includes titles ranging from Jewish Ethics to Shakespeare. Within the book, Livesey tackles subjects such as the Bauhaus, Russian Constructivism and Postmodernism, in texts that are laudable in offering a rapid fire of architects, buildings and centres of influence. Collectively, this forms a holistic understanding of how our profession has evolved from Monticello to Canadas Truth and Reconciliation Commission.The book is minimally but helpfully illustrated with delightful hand drawings by Mohammed Moezzi. The intended audience (i.e., a university student) will likely study this guide with a smartphone close at hand and assemble a valuable digital compendium for quick Google searches, containing an infinite amount of imagery. For this reason, this book could not have been written 25 years ago. The many short references and sources supplied by Livesey offer thousands of little breadcrumbs as he revisitsand indeed correctsthe many subjects and periods discussed, such as dedicating overdue attention to the many women whose history was forgotten or subjugated by white men. This book recognizes the contributions of Black architects and the innovation and brilliance that emerged from countries like India, Malaysia, China, and Africa over the past 250 years. It also provides insightful connections to politics, technology, landscape architecture, and design that help contextualize the evolution of modern architecture.The work of practicing architects is supported by this volume, too. Including discussions of notable academics focussing on socialism, phenomenology, poststructuralism, and the effects ofcolonialism helps us understand the trajectory of thought that defined several generations of architects.Modern Architecturemakes a logical attempt at working chronologically. But the pendulum shifts both ways when advancing diversity, or practicing within a global climate crisis and social inequality: progress is not always linear or assured. This humbling circumstance reminds us that, to do our best work, we need to understand the past and as many facets of our history as possible.As appeared in theApril 2025issue of Canadian Architect magazineThe post Book Review: Modern ArchitectureThe Basics appeared first on Canadian Architect.