A landmark bestseller that "captivates the eye, mind, and imagination," (The New York Times), Skyscrapers is a unique and colossal celebration of the world's most significant and striking super-structures.
Uniquely designed to showcase the full color images of the world's tallest buildings, Skyscrapers explores the architecture, engineering, and cultural impact of more than 60 skyline defining buildings including:
- One World Trade Center
- Burj Khalifa
- The Empire State Building
- The Shanghai World Financial Center
- The Petronas Towers
- Tribune Tower
- The Shard
- Shanghai Tower
Arranged chronologically by date of building construction, each informative profile includes stunning photos of the building's defining features along with building plans, diagrams, historical background, and technological information.
Beginning with a fascinating interview with Adrian Smith, the master architect responsible for Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the reigning tallest building in the world at 2,717 feet (828 meters), Skyscrapers also includes in-depth looks at compelling topics in skyscraper design, including next steps in creating visionary cities of the future, and information on cutting-edge sustainable materials that help make these structures environmentally friendly.
Breathtaking. Magnificent. Unique. Very Special. Exquisite. One-of-a-kind. Well researched. Beautifully designed. (Robert J. Bruss, Tribune Media Services)
"An eye-popping shelf-scraper...an elevating experience." (Gene Shalit, "Today")
"You may get vertigo looking at Skyscrapers..." (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 desire... 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)
