Aberdeen, Scotland’s third largest city, has been a place of economic importance since the development of the shipbuilding and fishing industries, and has been synonymous with oil ever since the discovery of North Sea reserves in the 1970s. Nicknamed the ‘Granite City’ due to the locally quarried grey granite that was used in many of the city’s most important buildings, Aberdeen has a proud and distinctive identity with an extraordinary history embodied in the many fine buildings that have shaped the city.

Aberdeen in 50 Buildings explores the history of this rich and vibrant city through a selection of its greatest architectural assets, from notable buildings such as the Music Hall, the Trinity Hall, the new Town House and, of course, Alexander Marshall Mackenzie’s extension to Marischal College, the second largest granite building in the world, to more recent additions such as the Maggie’s Centre and the Sir Duncan Rice Library. Aberdeen in 50 Buildingsguides the reader on a tour of Aberdeen’s historic buildings and modern architectural marvels to celebrate the city’s architectural heritage in a new and accessible way.