The Secret Lives of Buildings: From the Ruins of the Parthenon t... Cover Art

The Secret Lives of Buildings: From the Ruins of the Parthenon to the Vegas Strip in Thirteen Stories (Hardcover)

By: Edward Hollis (Author)


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Publisher's note

A narrative history of western architecture offers insight into its reflection of cultural influences and transformations, documenting some of the most dramatic examples of dynamic western architecture from Notre Dame's cathedral to the Berlin Wall. 35,000 first printing.

Annotation

A daringly original, beautifully narrated history of Western architecture and the cultural transformations that it represents

Concrete, marble, steel, brick: little else made by human hands seems as stable, as immutable, as a building. Yet the life of any structure is neither fixed nor timeless. Outliving their original contexts and purposes, buildings are forced to adapt to each succeeding age; to survive, they must become shapeshifters. In a breathtaking refashioning of architectural history, Edward Hollis recounts the most enthralling of these stories of metamorphosis, and shows how buildings embody the history of Western culture.

As enchanting as folktales, the narratives move from the "once upon a time" of the initial planning, through the years of ruin and renovation, to the present day and "ever after." The Parthenon, that epitome of a ruined temple, was for centuries a working church and then a mosque; the cathedral of Notre Dame was "restored" to a design that none of its original makers would have recognized; remains of the Berlin Wall, once gleefully smashed and bulldozed, have become precious relics. Altered layer by layer with each generation, buildings become eloquent chroniclers of the civilizations they've witnessed. As "The Secret Lives of Buildings" brilliantly demonstrates, their stories are what bridge the gulf of history.



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