Introduction to the architecture of the twenty-first century. We study buildings and the technology employed to design, construct and maintain them, as well as the urban conglomerations sustaining that technology. We contextualize this survey in a number of regions (North America, Europe, Africa, Mid-East, China, India, and the virtual realm). The course emphasizes the flow of people, resources, and ideas that connect disparate places. The aim of this course is to pose this proposition: “contemporary” is distinct from “modern”; but what are the implications of that proposition?