Mike Cook is a Partner at Buro Happold and has contributed as a structural engineer to the many light-weight membrane projects and complex roofing for which the practice is well known. Neil Billett is a Director of Buro Happold, as an environmental engineer he has worked on numerous complex and environmentally innovative schemes, including the Great Court at the British Museum and the Lords Media Centre. Together they address the way that a revolution in materials - high-strength steel, aluminium and plastics - has had a profound impact on the form and function of buildings, and how computer technology has advanced the handling of these materials, pushing back the boundaries of what is technically possible and bringing us to the brink of something even more exciting: the advent of intelligent materials and thinking buildings. NB: Missing part of introduction.