In this cross-cutting story of architecture that begins in the Stone Age and ends in modern times, Witold Rybczynski describes how technological, economic and social changes, as well as transformations in tastes and preferences, affected architectural ideas and ideals.
To illustrate this, the author details a myriad of examples: from temples such as the Hagia Sophia and St. Paul's Cathedral in London, to residential buildings, including the Katsura Imperial Villa and the Alhambra, public buildings, m.including the Crystal Palace and the Rudolf Petersdorff department store in Breslau, national icons such as the Eiffel Tower and the Sydney Opera House, to skyscrapers including the Seagram Building and the CCTV building in Beijing. Rybczynski emphasizes that all the buildings are linked in time and space by the human need for order, meaning and beauty.
This is an engaging, accessible and coherent story about the architectural manifestation of man's universal quest to celebrate, revere and commemorate. Rybczynski's book - authoritative, balanced, unbiased and rooted in science - will delight all readers interested in understanding the buildings they visit and pass by every day.
Witold Rybczynski is an architect and professor emeritus of urban planning at the University of Pennsylvania. He has written twenty-one books, including Home. A Brief History of Ideas, The Most Beautiful House in the World and How Architecture Works.
The book was published by REBIS Publishing House.
