The Scotsman

How often do you look up and take note of the buildings around you? Do you ever linger in the foyer of a particular place to take in its forms, or its use of light and colour? The answer to these questions is probably no, but this month it's time to stop and indulge your inner designer because Architecture Week is upon us. A national celebration of creativity, this year marks the tenth anniversary of the week which encourages us to take time to appreciate the buildings which surround us. "On a basic level architecture offers shelter from the elements, but good architecture is so much more," says Stuart MacDonald, director of The Lighthouse, Scotland's National Architecture and Design Centre. "At its best, function and form work together to create stimulating or calming environments, or to express an individual culture.