The Temple of Concord in Agrigento is a fifth century BC Greek temple, and it demonstrates the antiquity of classicism, how classicism is synonymous with Western culture, has the same age as Western culture, and the foundation of the tradition of Classical architecture is rooted in Classical culture which originates in ancient Greece.

The Petit Palais in Paris was built in 1900. This is interesting because, contrasting this with the Temple of Concord; we are dealing with a period of two and a half thousand years. That's two and a half thousand years of continuity of a pretty much continuous tradition. In this period of continuity we're dealing with development and change and diversity. And in understanding the tradition of Classical architecture one has to understand that it's this relationship between the origins and the diversity and the change which is what enables one to continue to design in a Classical manner. There are all sorts of different attitudes you can take to it, and these attitudes are offered to you by the length and diversity of the tradition.