Thinking it Through was originally published in the magazine Home and Building from 1988 to 1996, when the editor Kirsty Robertson invited Tony Watkins, a long-standing contributor, to begin a new column of that name. She also invited Haruhiko Sameshima to contribute one picture for each column. The two had never met: for each issue Tony sent an article to Haru, and Haru replied with an image; Tony in turn responded to each image with another article in the next issue.

This is the story of that conversation between a writer and a maker of pictures. Watkins's many-sided career takes in architecture, authorship, education and activism, and through various organisations he has helped form local and global policy on sustainable design.