The definition of local and national identity is a hot topic in much of the world today, and it may be expressed in terms of race, religion, language, or even music or cuisine. The same is true of traditional building practices. Ideas in building are linked with culture and spread by cultural rather than scientific/technical means – from the migration of the monolithic arch from Syria to Western Europe in the seventh century to the spread of lehmwickel from Germany to Eastern Europe, North and South America and elsewhere in the nineteenth century.

Professor Miles Lewis is a distinguished architectural historian who specialises in the cultural history of building. His work has ranged from Syrianstonemasonry to European architecture in Tianjin, China. His publications include Architectura (London and New York, 2009) of which he was editor and principal author. He is also author of Victorian Primitive, Don John of Balaclava, The Essential Maldon, Two Hundred Years of Concrete inAustralia, Victorian Churches, Melbourne the City's History, Suburban Backlash, and numerousarticles and papers on architectural and building history, urban conservation, urban renewal and housing policy. He is an honorary life member of the Comite Internationale d’Architecture Vernaculaire, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Humanities, Emeritus Professor of Architectureat the University of Melbourne, a UNESCO /ICOMOS World Heritage Counsellor, and a Fellow of the International Advisory Board of the Royal Institute of Architects.