Ground & Frame is a plain-language reference to the discipline of architecture. It explains what the field actually does, from the first sketch on a drawing board to the finished site that stands in the open, and it does so without marketing a single studio, building or person. Each page holds one subject, is written to be read on its own, and is linked to the pages beside it, so the whole reference reads as one long walk that a reader can take at their own pace and come back to as often as the work of the building calls for it.

The sections follow the way the work happens. The Practice opens the field, Design to Build traces an idea into drawings, Homes & Houses turns to the house, Interiors turns to the space inside it, Urban Planning looks up to the whole city, Styles & History reads the built record, Materials & Technology names what the building is made of, Careers & Costs prices the work, and the Field Guide covers the smaller terms people search for.