Uncommon Structures, Unconventional Builders - Hardcover

Van Dine, Alan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1579121616 ISBN 13: 9781579121617

Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal, 2001

Synopsis

They are the most remarkable constructions in human history--from the Tower of Babel to China's Great Wall to Machu Picchu--but how and why did they come to be? Here are the answers, entertainingly explained.

UNCOMMON STRUCTURES contains the most amazing, mind-boggling constructions in history. This big, beautiful book features seventeen lively and detailed chronicles of our most ambitious and legendary building projects--the visions and ambition with which they were launched, and the many twists and turns they took as they came into being. Wide-ranging in scope, encompassing a myriad of cultures, time periods and building materials, this lush volume will fascinate general readers, but is substantive enough to hold the interest of architects and designers. Each section is enhanced by a full range of illustrations: color and black-and-white photography, historic drawings and plans, fine art, line art,--the gamut. These are stories of human (and in one case, animal) ingenuity and vision that have inspired and enlighten men and women through the ages.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

They are the most remarkable constructions in human history - from the tower of Babel to China's Great Wall to Machu Picchu - but how and why did they come to be?

From Anasazi cliff dwelling to Gothic cathedrals, Neolithic huts to French chateaux, seventeen of the world's most ambitious and legendary building projects are chronicled in this lively, entertaining book. What unique vision brought each of these structures into being? And what twists and turns did the architects, designers, artisans, and builders encounter on the way to realizing their dreams?

As the author points out in his preface, the planning and raising of a building projects are chronicled in this lively, entertaining book. What unique vision brought each of these structures into being? And what twists and turns did the architects, designers, artisans, and builders encounter on the way to realizing their dreams?

As the author points out in his preface, the planning and raising of a building is so all-consuming a project that it is likely to involve liberal amounts of ambition, hope, fear, greed, pride, and reverence. Though the structure itself may stand for centuries, the story of a building is often buried and forgotten - and eventually, the building is, too. No one knows for sure what the Tower of Babel looked like, or the Colossus of Rhodes, or the city of Jericho. Other structures, such as Ireland's Round Towers or the rock city of Petra, have outlived all memory of how or why they were built, or who built them. There are igloos and nomads' tents and early American cottages being built today based on age-old traditions, by generations who have lost track of how these basic forms of shelter first came to be.

Wide-ranging in scope, encompassing a myriad of cultures, time periods, and building materials, this lush volume offers a surprise on every page, as it celebrates human (and, in one case, avian) ingenuity, perseverance, and the persistence of the creative spirit.

From the Back Cover

Breathtaking. Magnificent. Unique. Very Special. Exquisite. One-of-a-kind. Well researched. Beautifully designed. (Robert J. Bruss, Tribune Media Services)

"An eye-popping shelf-scraperTan elevating experience." (Gene Shalit, "Today")

"You may get vertigo looking at SkyscrapersT" (The New York Times)

Like towering divas, skyscrapers command the urban stage. They hold us enthralled, leaving us anticipating and half-fearing their next majestic manifestation. The roles played by the skyscraper and many: they are icons of cities, stars of movies, symbols of corporate power, and the place where many of us report to work every morning. Deemed both avatars and annihilators of civilized life, they have been praised as efficient space-savers and denounced as rapacious consumers of light and air. In short, the skyscraper's bold visual gestalt, one layered with multiple meanings, has become a complex metaphor for all that is good and bad about the twentieth century. (Judith Dupre, from the Foreword)

I think the interesting question is why does man want to build to the sky? What is there about the desire for domination, or to reach God, or for private pride - the Pyramids are an example of that, but the tall building is certainly another. Every civilization is touched by that desireT They all reached for a dominant height. The impulse may have been different, but that's a common feeling of must culture. (Philip Johnson, from the Introductory Interview)

About this edition

• Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 1579121616
• ISBN 13: 9781579121617
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 208