Studies in Tectonic Culture is nothing less than a rethinking of the entire modern architectural tradition. The notion of tectonics as employed by Frampton - the focus on architecture as a constructional craft - constitutes a direct challenge to current mainstream thinking on the artistic limits of postmodernism, and suggests a convincing alternative.

The book's ten essays and an epilogue trace the history of contemporary form as an evolving poetics of structure and construction. Its analytical framework rests on Frampton's close readings of key French, German, and English sources from the eighteenth century to the present.