Book excerpt: Edson Armi offers an original interpretation of Romanesque architecture by focusing on buildings in northern Italy, Switzerland, southern France, and Catalonia, the regions where Romanesque architecture first appeared around 1000 AD. He integrates the study of medieval structure with a knowledge of construction, decoration and articulation to determine the origins of medieval architecture and the High Romanesque style. Armi's in depth study reveals new knowledge about design decisions in the early Middle Ages.