This year's RIAS Festival Fringe exhibition features ten extraordinary buildings from the last ten years - buildings that have made a difference culturally, environmentally, economically or simply by raising the standards of good design.

Architecture shapes our lives.Virtually every aspect of life - home, work, education, health and leisure - is affected by the buildings we use. The difference between a well designed building can be the difference between a good and poor quality of life. The aim of this small exhibition is to celeb! rate some of the best recent examples of Scottish buildings which have made that difference and to acknowledge the skill and creativity of the architects who designed them. We hope that visitors to Edinburgh during the Festival, whether familiar or unfamiliar with contemporary Scottish architecture, will find it stimulating.

In 2001, the Scottish Executive published A Policy on Architecture for Scotland. In that document the Executive stated, amongst other beliefs, that: "the quality of our architecture, and of our urban and rural places, is a reflection of our cultural aspirations and is vital to the perception of Scotland as a place of imagination, creativity and innovation".

The ten buildings featured in the exhibition are proof of the truth and significance of that statement.They also demonstrate that architects, working in partnership with comm! itted and informed clients can deliver buildings that are socially inclusive, sustainable, regenerative, inspirational and uplifting. The ten featured building in 10/10 are: 1996: Maggie's Centre, Edinburgh - Richard Murphy Architects 1997: Archaeolink visitor centre, Aberdeenshire - Edward Cullinan Ar! chitects 1998: St Aloysius' Junior School, Glasgow - Elder and Cannon Architects 1999: The Lighthouse, Glasgow - Page and Park Architects 2000: Graham Square, Glasgow - Page and Park, Richard Murphy Architects, McKeown Alexander 2001: Dance Base, Edinburgh - Malcolm Fraser Architects 2002: Radisson, Glasgow - gm+ad architects 2003: An Turas, Tiree - Sutherland Hussey Architects 2004: A'Chrannag, Rothesay - Gokay Deveci 2005: The Scottish Parliament, Edinburgh - EMBT/RMJM

10/10 Buildings that made a difference is curated by John Pelan, Director of Communications, Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland and runs from 1 August to 2 September 2005 at the RIAS Gallery 15 Rutland Square, Edinburgh.