Uncommon Structures, Unconventional Builders - Hardcover

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.

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)