Examining Byzantine architecture--primarily churches built in the area
of Constantinople between the ninth and fifteenth centuries--from the
perspective of its masons, its master builders, Robert Ousterhout
identifies the problems commonly encountered in the process of design
and construction. He analyzes written evidence, the archaeological
record, and especially the surviving buildings, concluding that
Byzantine architecture was far more innovative than has previously been
acknowledged.
Ousterhout explains how masons selected, manufactured, and utilized
materials from bricks and mortar to lead roofing tiles, from foundation
systems to roof vaultings. He situates richly decorated church
interiors, sheathed in marble revetments, mosaics, and frescoes--along
with their complex iconographic programs--within the purview of the
master builder, referring also to masons in Russia, the Balkans, and
Jerusalem.