If there’s one novel that stands out for its focus on the history of architecture it is Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo.

Although buildings often take on a character of their own in works of fiction, Hugo bases his entire history of Paris on the architectural movements and the dedication that gives rise to arguably the city’s most famous landmark.

You could say that Notre-Dame de Paris, known to many as The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, does for European architecture what Moby Dick does for whale-hunting. It dissects the subject and gives it an unerring sense of gravitas right in the midst of a wonderfully engaging story.

It’s good come away from a novel feeling you have learned something and Notre-Dame de Paris definitely has that effect. Right from the first sentence you can tell that Hugo’s real passion is architecture and his enthusiasm for it lays the groundwork for an incredibly vivid homage to the French capital and its skyline.

If you are looking for something to kill a little time on your breaks at work, then it is worth looking at the David Chipperfield Architects website and browsing through past projects and forthcoming plans the company is currently working on.

There’s nothing quite as inspirational as looking at the work of one of Europe’s most celebrated architects and his team.

Whilst browsing I even started imagining what it would be like to have Chipperfield design a house or a workspace for me and then I came across the Koenig Books shop on Charing Cross Road in London. That’s a shop I’ve visited a number of times and had no idea Chipperfield’s team was behind it, clearly believing it too small scale for their attention.

So evidently anything’s possible in the world of architecture. My shed is looking a little ropy – I might give David a call now to see if he can do something about it.

This week the winners of the EU Prize for Contemporary Architecture 2011 were announced in Barcelona. The main prize went to David Chipperfield Architects for their work on the Neues Museum in Berlin alongside Julian Harrap.

The Emerging Architect Special Mention went to Ramon Bosch and Bet Capdeferro for the Collage House in Girona. The winners won 60,000 and 20,000 euros respectively to go along with the accolades and the considerable boost to reputation that these awards represent.

The winning formula for these particular projects appeared to be the marriage between new and old materials, giving historical structures a new lease of life.

The architecture of Manchester really contributes to the atmosphere of the city. Having lived in the city all my life, it’s easy for me to identify the parts of Manchester that seem to pulse with its life and history.

Parts of Castlefield are particularly evocative because the very architecture reflects the fervour of industry that led to its rise. The canals, arches, bridges and red brick edifices are a feature of the wider Manchester area, but they converge at Castlefield in all their photogenic glory.

It’s a shame that a lot of modern architecture doesn’t bring to mind the idea of being built to last, incorporating as it does so much glass. However, it feels that in Manchester the marriage between old and new, industrial and post-industrial works more attractively then in many cities made rich for their role in the industrial revolution.

Preston-based Building Design Partnership recently ran a poll in order to find out which of its buildings around the UK was considered the best considered according to the British public.

The likely winner appears to be Preston’s very own bus station, which was designed in the 1960s by Keith Ingham, Charles Wilson and E.H. Stazicker.

The building is a stunning example of 1960s Brutalist architecture and can be considered a worthy winner thanks to its imposing and dramatic edifice. However, voting has not yet closed, so there is still time for the closest runners-up, Perth’s concert hall and Salford’s Abito development, to catch up.