A History of Architecture in 100 Buildings - Hardcover

Cruickshank, Dan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1770855998 ISBN 13: 9781770855991

Publisher: Firefly Books Ltd, 2015

Synopsis

"Architecture is an all-embracing adventure without end," declares Dan Cruickshank in the introduction to A History of Architecture in 100 Buildings.

Cruickshank's selection represents key moments in architectural history and it is truly global in scope. It includes many of the world's best-known structures, and many less obvious ones, the unsung heroes of this great and fascinating story. Having visited most of the featured buildings himself, his book is both authoritative and intimate.

From the evocative remains of ancient civilizations to towering New York skyscrapers, Cruickshank's A History of Architecture in 100 Buildings is organized in seven themes. Examples are:

• Pioneers -- Pantheon (Rome), National Library (Paris), Flatiron Building (New York), Norkomfin Housing (Moscow), Casa Malaparte (Capri)
• Buildings of Vision -- Sculpture, Gate of Lions (Greece), Krak des Chevaliers (Syria), Maori Meeting House (New Zealand), Assembly Buildings (Bangladesh), Moscow Metro (Russia)
• Follies -- Bishop's Castle (Colorado), Falling Water (Pennsylvania), Sagrada Familia (Barcelona)
• Ancient, Lost and Disappearing Worlds -- Uruk (Iraq), Mud City of Chan Chan (Peru), Mesa Verde (Colorado), R.F. Scott's Hut (Antarctica), Oratory of Gallerus (Ireland)
• Scale: Where Size Matters -- Burj Khalif (Dubai), Crystal Island Complex (Moscow), Towers Of San Gimignano (Italy), Pyramid of the Sun and Ciudadela (Teotihuacan, Mexico), Ulm Minster (Germany)
• Rhetoric and Meaning -- Ise Inner Shrine (Japan), Christ in the Attic (Amsterdam), Taj Mahal (India), Crystal Island Complex (Russia), The Palace of Ctesiphon (Iraq)
• Survivals and Revivals -- Slave Cabins (New Orleans), Catherine Palace (Russia), Carcassonne (France) Watson's Hotel (Mumbai), Eastern State Penitentiary (Philadelphia).

Architects, historians, travelers and inquisitive readers will enjoy this beautiful, sumptuously illustrated book.

About this title

Review:

Cruickshank, an art historian, author, and BBC presenter, has produced a beautifully illustrated history of architecture that's both representative and expansive in scope. Cruickshank takes a historical perspective, beginning with the pyramids, and moves through to the present. His exploration is a "personal and intimate affair," and he examines world architecture under differing rubrics, exploring functions and purposes of the buildings. He makes a distinction between buildings and architecture and looks at what makes a building exceptional. He asks how buildings are expressive, and to what purpose; the significance of the tension between conservative and progressive tendencies; and the role of the sacred and of aesthetics. He also zooms out to consider social spaces and urban environments, and the implications of different architectural schools of thought. Cruickshank considers the historical contexts and individual inspiration that brought each building into being.-- (12/18/2015)

This engaging volume describes the cities and buildings that art historian and author Cruikshank visited for over 35 years on his own and since 2000 while working on television programs for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) ... This book is solid reading for worldwide travelers and a younger audience.-- (12/01/2015)

Cruickshank takes us on a trip through time and space to visit a selection of structures representing key moments in the history of world architecture. The book is organized around seven themes, such as "Buildings of Vision" and "Follies." Each building included is described in an essay accompanied by striking color photographs, a number of them double-page spreads. These essays provide factual information and, more important, the author's personal reaction to each building, since he has actually visited all but three of them. Armchair travelers and architecture buffs will enjoy the company of a knowledgeable and impassioned guide in this concise and colorful work.-- (02/15/2016)

An exceedingly well-written tour of 100 buildings all around the world -- humble and utilitarian, magnificent and sacred -- and what their design says about the culture and history of their era.-- (12/11/2015)

About the Author:

Dan Cruickshank is a well known BBC television presenter and author. He is a leading expert on architecture and historic buildings, and a frequent contributor to The Architects' Journal and The Architectural Review. His previous books include the bestselling Around the World in 80 Treasures.

About this edition

• Publisher: Firefly Books Ltd
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1770855998
• ISBN 13: 9781770855991
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 352