In this book, six internationally renowned experts, professors of architecture - Stanford Anderson, Peter Carolin, Carsten Juel-Christiansen, Joseph Rykwert, Patrik Schumacher and Dietmar Steiner - discuss the study of architecture and its relationship to practical work. The forum for this discussion was the two-day Research and Practice in Architecture Seminar held by the Alvar Aalto Academy and the Helsinki University of Technology in spring 2000. During the seminar, views were expressed on the new directions being taken in architectural research and the opportunities they offer. The book also includes the main topics of the two open sessions organised in connection with the seminar. The debate concerning the content and aims of architectural study is highly pertinent, as work in this field is producing new methods and developing ever closer links to practical designing. The book has been edited by Esa Laaksonen, Director of the Alvar Aalto Academy, Professor Tom Simons, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture at the Helsinki University of Technology and Architect Anni Vartola, Lic.Tech., lecturer on Architectural Theory at the Helsinki University of Technology.