  Reductive (or semisimple) algebraic groups, Lie groups and Lie algebras have
a rich geometry determined by their parabolic subgroups and subalgebras, which
carry the structure of a building in the sense of J. Tits. We present herein an
elementary approach to the geometry of parabolic subalgebras, over an arbitrary
field of characteristic zero, which does not rely upon the structure theory of
semisimple Lie algebras. Indeed we derive such structure theory, from root
systems to the Bruhat decomposition, from the properties of parabolic
subalgebras. As well as constructing the Tits building of a reductive Lie
algebra, we establish a "parabolic projection" process which sends parabolic
subalgebras of a reductive Lie algebra to parabolic subalgebras of a Levi
subquotient. We indicate how these ideas may be used to study geometric
configurations and their moduli.
