This lecture/presentation by Professor Ronald Lewcock took place at the School of Architecture, University of Queensland, Australia, in 2019, as part of a series of lectures under the heading: Eastern Architectures Secular and Religious. The entire 12 lecture series and accompanying publication are available on Archnet thanks to the generosity of Professor Lewcock and the University of Queensland. Together the lectures and publication provide an introduction to the principal cultures of Asia and their buildings. As a sub-text, it examines the genesis of the architecture and urbanism as conscious responses to the environment, social conditions and/or beliefs and ideologies, and considers the degree to which individual creativity might have been a factor in the architecture and urbanism of Asia.