This highly original and sophisticated look at architecture helps us to understand the cultural significance of the buildings that surround us. It avoids the traditional style-spotting approach and instead gives us an idea of what it is about buildings that moves us, and what it is that makes them important artistically and culturally. The book begins by looking at how architecture acquires meaning through tradition, and concludes with the exoticism of the recent avant-garde period. Illustrations of particular buildings help to anchor the general points with specific examples, from ancient Egypt to the present day.
1 AT&T Building, New York (1978–80); architect: Philip Johnson (born 1906)
© T. Brubaker/Edifice
2 Traditional cottage, uncertain date, but pre-20th century; no architect
Hulton Archive
3 Royal Pavilion, Brighton, England (1815–21); architect: John Nash (1752–1835)
© A. F. Kersting
4 Great Pyramid of Khufu, Giza, near Cairo, Egypt (2723–2563 BC); architect: unknown
© Richard T. Nowitz/Corbis
5 Palace of Westminster, London, England (1836–68); architect: Sir Charles Barry (1795–1860) with A. W. N. Pugin (1812–52)
© Jeremy Horner/Corbis
6 Chandigarh, Punjab, India (1950–65); architect: Le Corbusier (1887–1965)
© Chris Hellier/Corbis
7 The Parthenon, Athens, Greece (447–436 BC); architects: Ictinus and Callicrates working with the sculptor Phidias
© Michael Holford
8 Cathedral of St Etienne, Bourges, France (begun 1190)
© Eye Ubiquitous/Corbis
9 Schröder house, Utrecht, Netherlands (1924); architect: Gerrit Rietveld (1888–1964)
Centraal Museum, Utrecht
10 Falling Water, Bear Run, Pennsylvania (1936–9); architect: Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959)
© Chicago Historical Society
11 Wieskirche, Steinhausen, Bavaria, Germany (1745–54); architect: Dominikus Zimmerman (1681–1766)
© A. F. Kersting
12 Monticello, near Charlottesville, Virginia (1796–1808); architect: Thomas Jefferson (1743–1836)
© R. Lautman/Monticello
13 Maison Carrée, Nîmes, France (AD 1–10); architect: unknown
© A. F. Kersting
14 The Pantheon, Rome, Italy (AD 118–25); architect: anonymous, but worked under the direction of the Emperor Hadrian
Archivi Alinari, Florence
15 Villa Capra, Vicenza, Italy (1569); architect: Andrea Palladio (1508–80)
Archivi Alinari, Florence
16 Chiswick Villa, London, England (1725); architect: Lord Burlington (1694–1753)
© A. F. Kersting
17 Model of Temple of Juno Sospita, Lanuvium — Etruscan temple, according to Vitruvius (5th century BC)
© David Lees/Corbis
18 Seagram Building, Manhattan, New York City (1954–8); architects: Mies van der Rohe (1886–1969) and Philip Johnson (born 1906)
© Bettmann/Corbis
19 Opera House, Sydney, Australia (1957–73); architect: Jorn Utson (born 1918)
© Eye Ubiquitous/Corbis
20
Underwood & Underwood/Corbis
21 Métro entrance surrounds, Paris, France (1899–1905); architect: Hector Guimard (1867–1942)
© Philippa Lewis/Edifice
22 Expiatory Church of the Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain (begun 1882); architect: Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926)
© A. F. Kersting
23 Mausoleum of the Taj Mahal, Agra, India (1630–53); architect: Ustad ‘Isa (dates unknown)
© A. F. Kersting
24 Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain (1997); architect: Frank Gehry (born 1929)
Erika Barahona Ede/© FMGB Guggenheim Bilbao
25 Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France (1977); architects: Renzo Piano (born 1937) and Richard Rogers (born 1933)
© Eye Ubiquitous/Corbis
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said, ‘Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand
Half-sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings,
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.’
