Great buildings : [the world's architectural masterpieces explored and explained]

Format:

Book

Title:

Great buildings : [the world's architectural masterpieces explored and explained]

Author:

Wilkinson, Philip, 1955-

ISBN:

9780756698294

Edition:

1st American ed.

Publication Information:

New York, N.Y. : DK, 2012.

Physical Description:

256 pages : color illustrations ; 31 cm

General Note:

Subtitle from cover.

Includes index.

Contents:

2500 BCE-1100. Great Pyramid : Giza, Egypt ; The Parthenon : Athens, Greece ; Colosseum : Rome, Italy ; Pantheon : Rome, Italy ; Hagia Sophia : Istanbul, Turkey ; Temple of the Inscriptions : Palenque, Mexico ; Bulguksa Temple : Jinheon-Dong, South Korea ; Palatine Chapel : Aachen, Germany ; Borobudur : Magelang, Java, Indonesia -- 1100-1500. Angkor Wat : Angkor, Cambodia ; Abbaye de Ste-Madeleine : Vézelay, France ; Krak des Chevaliers : Near Homs, Syria ; Borgund Stave Church : Lærdal, Norway ; Chartres Cathedral : Chartres, France ; Burghausen Castle : Burghausen, Germany ; Florence Cathedral : Florence, Italy ; Alhambra : Granada, Spain ; Doge's Palace : Venice, Italy ; Temple of Heaven : Beijing, China ; King's College Chapel : Cambridge, UK ; Ducal Palace : Urbino, Italy -- 1500-1700. Belém Tower : Lisbon, Portugal ; Château de Chambord : Loire Valley, France ; St. Basil's Cathedral : Moscow, Russia ; Villa La Rotonda : Vicenza, Italy ; Himeji Castle : Himeji, Japan ; Masjid-i-Shah : Isfahan, Iran ; Taj Mahal : Agra, India ; Royal Palace : Amsterdam, Netherlands ; Palace of Versailles : Paris, France -- 1700-1900. Melk Abbey : Melk, Austria ; Blenheim Palace : Woodstock, UK ; Amalienburg Pavilion : Nymphenburg, Germany ; Monticello : Charlottesville, USA ; Houses of Parliament : London, UK ; Neuschwanstein Castle : Bavaria, Germany ; Sagrada Familia : Barcelona, Spain ; Hôtel Tassel : Brussels, Belgium ; Grand Palais : Paris, France -- 1900 to present. Chrysler Building : New York City, USA ; Villa Savoye : Poissy, France ; Fallingwater : Pennsylvania, USA ; Sydney Opera House : Sydney, Australia ; Brasilia Cathedral : Brasilia, Brazil ; Pompidou Centre : Paris, France ; National Gallery of Canada : Ottawa, Canada ; Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao : Bilbao, Spain ; Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Centre : Nouméa, New Caledonia ; Jin Mao Tower : Shanghai, China ; Seattle Central Library : Seattle, USA ; Palace of the Arts : Valencia, Spain ; MAXXI : Rome, Italy ; Yusuhara Wooden Bridge Museum : Kōchi, Japan.

Summary:

Profiles twenty of the world's greatest buildings, providing for each the story of its construction, a visual analysis, and an explanation of key architectural features, and offers a chronological history of architecture.

Subject(s):

Buildings.

Historic buildings.

Architecture -- History.

Genre:

History.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Independence Public Library	720.923 WILKINSON 2012	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

From the mysterious Great Pyramid of Egypt and Turkey's exquisite Hagia Sofia, to the splendid palace at Versailles and Frank Lloyd Wright's graceful Fallingwater in Pennsylvania, Great Buildings explores the world's most stunning buildings and other iconic architectural creations in fabulous visual tours.

The history of each building is explained, from the commissioning to how they were built, and is supplemented with 3-D cutaway artworks and pullouts of the exterior, as well as key details of the interior.

With features on prominent architects, construction and style, Great Buildings is a comprehensive and excellent introduction to architecture's greatest achievements.

Reviews (1)

Booklist Review

This guided tour of 53 architectural icons of the past and present is everything we've come to expect from DK Publishing: inexpensive, lavishly illustrated, and accessible. Intended to act as a helpful guide standing next to you, it proposes that systematically examining the parts of an architectural work external form, interior space, and architecture detail enables the viewer to better appreciate the building as a whole. Following an introduction that explains this approach, the book proceeds chronologically from 2500 BCE to the present. Entries range from four to six pages and follow the same basic format: a large color photo of the building accompanied by an overview of its history and construction, including information about the architect and/or patron. This is followed by a visual tour composed of an image of the building as a whole (a floor plan or, in some cases, a 3-D cutaway), with pullouts that explain key features. Relevant sidebars ( On Construction, On Design, etc.) provide more in-depth information on unique or noteworthy aspects of each building. Despite focusing on a relatively small number of architectural works, the book goes beyond iconic Western architecture (the Parthenon, Versailles) to include buildings from a variety of countries and cultures; for instance, the Bulguksa Temple, in South Korea, and the Krak des Chevaliers, in Syria, are among the early works, while modern examples include the Brasilia Cathedral, in Brazil, and, closer to home, the U.S.' Seattle Central Library. Great Buildings provides a topical treatment of architecture that would not replace more in-depth works on this topic but certainly serves as an excellent survey of architectural history, and the images, in particular the 3-D renderings, enable the reader to more effectively imagine the buildings' scale and detail. Although the text is written for adults, it is accessible to older children and teens as well, and the images will appeal to readers of all ages. Highly recommended for all types of libraries.--Harmon, Lindsay Copyright 2010 Booklist