  These lectures are an informal elementary introduction to buildings. They are
written for, and by, a non-expert. The aim is to get to the definition of a
building and feel that it is an entirely natural thing. To maintain the lecture
style examples have replaced proofs. The notes at the end indicate where these
proofs can be found. Most of what we say has its origins in the work of Jacques
Tits, and our account borrows heavily from the books of Abramenko and Brown and
of Ronan. Lecture 1 illustrates all the essential features of a building in the
context of an example, but without mentioning any building terminology. In
principle anyone could read this. Lectures 2-4 firm-up and generalize these
specifics: Coxeter groups appear in Lecture 2, chambers systems in Lecture 3
and the definition of a building in Lecture 4. Lecture 5 addresses where
buildings come from by describing the first important example: the spherical
building of an algebraic group.
