Overview
The modern world's greatest structures capture the imagination and inspire wonder, whether they are places of worship, palaces of power or pleasure, skyscrapers, bridges, tunnels, canals, dams or colossal statues. In this volume, an international team of architectures, engineers and architectural historians chart the progress of human ingenuity and creativity in erecting buildings, from AD500 to the 21st century.
Full Product Details
Author: Neil Parkyn
Publisher: Thames & Hudson Ltd
Imprint: Thames & Hudson Ltd
Dimensions:
Width: 20.00cm
, Height: 3.20cm
, Length: 26.00cm
Weight: 0.300kg
ISBN: 9780500510476
ISBN 10: 0500510474
Pages: 304
Publication Date: 01 November 2002
Audience:
College/higher education
,
General/trade
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
,
General
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: In Print
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Reviews
This is a large, colourful, coffee-table book: 70 buildings, statues and man-made structures are explored in depth by 28 architects, engineers and architectural historians, with suitably lavish accompanying photographs, maps and diagrams. The book is split broadly into seven sections, encompassing a fair cross-section of architectural and cultural types. There is a preponderance of Western architecture, although the Orient and the East weigh in with heavyweights like the Forbidden City, the Taj Mahal and the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank. Each entry explains in detail how and why the structure was made, and what it is currently used for. Quick reference boxes show vital statistics such as height, weight, cost and the number of people each edifice took to build. The entries are garnished with some superb photography, and strongly put together; each is tailored to the context of its subject building, with - for example - the relationship between the interior of the Guggenheim Museum and the art it houses winning over a hefty discussion of its materials, whilst the composition of the Sears Tower is given much greater heed than the function of its interior spaces. The information given regarding the cultural significance of some of the older buildings is particularly impressive; in general, the mixture of commentators works well, allowing the sites and structures to be displayed in a variety of complementary lights. Consequently the book has a large appeal: it is in part a book for display, part for reference, and part for simple enjoyment. Anyone interested in practical science, travel, history or architecture will be well rewarded by a tour between its covers. (Kirkus UK)
Author Information
Neil Parkyn is an architect and city planner, who has worked in sixteen countries. He is also a prize-winning journalist and illustrator.
