Through a broad range of case studies spanning from imperial monuments to rural residences, Malayan Classicism puts forward a fundamentally new understanding of classical architecture in the Asian colonial context. Across Malaysia and Singapore, thousands of historic buildings are richly ornamented with motifs drawn from Ancient Greece and Rome - as plump volutes, lush acanthus leaves, and neat rows of dentils decorate mosques, palaces, government buildings and innumerable terraced shophouses. These classical details jostle with ideas drawn from other architectural traditions from across Asia in a style that is unique to the region. Presenting the first comprehensive account of what was, prior to World War II, Malaya's most widespread architectural style, Malayan Classicism explores how the classical architecture of the British Empire was transmitted, translated, and transformed in the hands of local builders and architects. Addressing a critical gap in the scholarship, this book charts the metamorphosis of an imperial language of power into a local vernacular style, and provides a new way of reading classical architecture in a post-colonial context that will be applicable throughout the Global South.

Nordic Classicism presents the first English-language survey of an important yet short-lived movement in modern architectural history. It was through the Nordic classical movement that Scandinavian architecture first attracted international attention. It was the Nordic Pavilions, rather than Le Corbusier's modernism, which generated most admiration at the 1925 World Fair, and it was the Nordic classical architects – including Gunnar Asplund, Sigurd Lewerentz, and Alvar Aalto – who went on to establish Scandinavia's reputation for modern design. Yet this brief classsical movement was quickly eclipsed by the rise of international modernism, and has often been overlooked in architectural studies. The book explores the lives and works of various key contributors to Nordic classicism – with eleven chapters each focussing on a different architect and on one of the period's outstanding works (including the Stockholm Central Library, the Resurrection Chapel, and the Woodland Cemetery). Famous architects and their works are examined alongside many lesser-known examples, to provide a comprehensive and in-depth account. As we approach the centenary of many of the events to which the book refers, now is a timely opportunity to explore the key themes of the Nordic classical movement, its architects, their buildings and the social and cultural changes to which they were responding.