The dwelling is the most fundamental building type, nowhere more so than in the open landscape. This book can be read in a number of ways. It is first a book about houses and particularly the theme 'dwelling and the land'. It examines the poetic and prosaic issues inherent in claiming a piece of the landscape to live on. It could also be seen as a kind of road map, full of both warnings and encouragements for all those involved with, or just interested in, the making of houses. That the domestic realm and the landscape can be vehicles for significant architectural insights is hardly an original observation. However this book seeks to bring the two topics together in a unique way. In exploring a building type that lies on the cusp of what is commonly understood as 'building' and 'architecture', it asks fundamental questions about what the very nature of architecture is. Who indeed is the architect and what is their role in the process of creating meaningful buildings?

While most books on architecture focus on the architectural outcome itself, Architects on Dwelling takes a close look at how that outcome is created. To design any kind of dwelling, architects draw on both their reservoir of ideas as well as their own experiences as fellow inhabitants of such structures. This book explores how architects design the places we inhabit and how those places in turn inform the manner in which we live, in ways beyond lifestyle and personal taste. Through contributions by Stephen Hoey, Henry McKeown & Ian Alexander, James Mitchell, Stacey Philips, Christopher Platt, Adrian Stewart, and Miranda Webster-most of whom are Scotland-based practitioners as well as teachers in The Glasgow School of Art-it reveals the unique values and qualities that inform their design processes.In their essays, they focus mostly on one exemplary building, explaining how and why they design the way they do. Dick van Gameren, Simon Henley, and Graeme Hutton, distinguished experts and themselves architect-educators, place this work within an international context and provide insightful comment about what these design approaches inform us about contemporary design in Scotland. Complemented with a wide range of images, these essays both illuminate the architects' motivations and inspirations and celebrate their featured works. Taken as a whole, Architects on Dwelling reminds us how profoundly the place we live in matters to our wellbeing, and of the social responsibility architects have in creating the built environment in general and dwellings in particular.