The Edifice Complex (Paperback)

Deyan Sudjic

ISBN 10: 0241952778 / ISBN 13: 9780241952771

Published by Penguin Books Ltd, London, 2011

About this Item

Paperback. 'As compelling a read as a popular novel . funny, acidic, penetrating and provocative' Norman FosterThe Edifice Complex explores the intimate and inextricable relationship between power, money and architecture in the twentieth century. How and why have presidents, prime ministers, mayors, millionaires and bishops come to share such a fascination with grand designs? From Blair to Mitterrand, from Hitler to Stalin to Saddam Hussein, architecture has become an end in itself, as well as a means to an end. This is a book of genuine timeliness, throwing new light on the motivations of the rich and powerful around the world - and on the ways they seek to affect us. From Hitler's vast Chancellery to Saddam Hussein's Mother of all Battles mosque, from Olympic stadiums to Donald Trump's excesses, the author examines the murky relationship between buildings, money and politics, revealing the power of architecture - and the architecture of power. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780241952771

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Edifice Complex (Paperback)
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd, London
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0241952778
• ISBN 13: 9780241952771
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Deyan Sudjic''s The Edifice Complex: The Architecture of Power is a fascinating exploration of the language of architecture as an insight into the psychology of power, from tyrants to billionaires.

Why do presidents and prime ministers, tycoons and tyrants share such a fascination with grand designs? Is it to impress or terrify, to wield state power, make a bid for immortality or just satisfy their egos?

From Hitler''s vast Chancellery to Saddam Hussein''s Mother of all Battles mosque, from Olympic stadiums to Donald Trump''s excesses, Deyan Sudjic examines the murky relationship between buildings, money and politics, revealing the power of architecture - and the architecture of power.

''A thrilling and passionately indignant trawl through vanity''s most polluted depths''
  The Times

''An often frightening, sometimes hilarious set of stories of brutality, absurdity and occasionally beauty''
  Evening Standar

''Punchily written ... deftly amusing ... a closely argued, brilliantly marshalled, important book''
  Daily Mail

''Informed, lively and intelligent ... an asylum of power-mad politicians and Croesus-rich patrons''
  New Statesman

''By turns funny, acidic, penetrating and provocative ... as compelling a read as a popular novel''
  Norman Foster

Director of the Design Museum, Deyan Sudjic was born in London of Yugoslav parents. He is a former architecture critic for the Observer, and a visiting professor at the Royal College of Art. Sudjic was Director of the Venice Architecture Biennale in 2002 and is author of The Edifice Complex, the much-praised 100-Miles City, the best-selling Architecture Pack, The Language of Things and monographs on John Pawson, Ron Arad and Richard Rogers.

About the Author

Deyan Sudjic is Director of the Design Museum. He was born in London, and studied architecture in Edinburgh. He has worked as a critic for the Observer and The Sunday Times, as the editor of Domus in Milan, as the director of the Venice Architecture Biennale, and as a curator in Glasgow, Istanbul and Copenhagen. He is the author of B is for Bauhaus, The Language of Things and The Edifice Complex.