Skyscrapers: A History of the World's Most Famous and Important Skyscrapers

by Judith Duprڻ, Judith Dupre, Philip Johnson

Book Overview

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... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1579126596
• ISBN13: 9781579126599
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 2.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 18.3" x 0.8" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Benchmark of the genre

Judith Dupre's books (Skyscrapers, Bridges; Churches) are a benchmarks of the genre, and since their unique and beautiful designs span different publishers, it suggests her personal input on this level as well. The page layouts are in a class of their own, visually enticing and combining art and information seamlessly. The sidebars are joy of balance and usefulness. Dupre comes across as a well tuned mind, completely familiar with and sensitive to the pertinent technical aspects of the structures. That she can now mix this with a highly developed sense of aesthetics and convey this in a text which is without a hint of pretension or ponderousness, makes these books an absolute delight. The overall choice of pictures is excellent, bar a few, but one senses the enormous difficulty in sourcing suitable images that will fill the format and capture the essence of the subjects. It is near impossible to over-recommend her books, and one can only hope that she turns her amazing talents to bringing out a book on perhaps great generic civil engineering feats such as roads, viaducts, overpasses, dams, tunnels, airports etc.

always a step higher

This new edition of "Skyscrapers" is even more astonishing than the first one! New pictures, new buildings (and some additional classic ones too). This is a "must have" for the bookshelf of people interested in architecture, design, engineering, and graphic design (the lay-out is well tuned to the book's content). Don't forget to see Bridges by the same author, obviously, it is a very lonnnnnnng book.

Stunning Look at the Modern "Pyramid"

When I first saw this book, I knew that it had to be on my Christmas "wish list." Upon receiving it, my excitement knew no bounds for this is an exquisitely produced homage to the skyscrapers of the past, present, and future. All the famous are here, from the cover featuring the oft-photographed Chrysler Building in New York to The Twin Towers of the World Trade Center to The IBM Tower of San Francisco. Included are many less known mammoth structures from foreign lands, such as Malaysia's Petronas Towers, touted presently as the tallest of all, and the uniquely designed Bank of China in Hong Kong. When one says, "The sky is the limit," the pages of this book showcase the adage perfectly.

A treasure trove of big photos and little treats!

By Jeffrey K. Herzer -- The jacket notes accurately describe the author's work as exploring "the interaction of text and image on the printed page". This book is wonderfully presented, a collage of big pictures and little treasures -- like under construction photos, sketches and diagrams, or other "trivia bits". You will find some new and precious treat every time you crack the cover. "Skyscrapers" is primarily a history of fifty important and world-famous skyscrapers, beginning with the Washington Monument and the Eiffel Tower & finishing with the Petronas Towers (Malaysia), the Jin Mao Building (Shanghai), and the planned Kuningan Persada Tower (Jakarta, Indonesia). A book about tall buildings should have tall pages...and this book is 18 inches tall and 7-1/2 inches wide. The format is entirely black & white, but most enjoyable. Ms. Dupre's text is short and direct and a perfect complement; it illuminates without getting bogged down in technicalities. Whether you're a skyscraper fanatic, an architect or engineer, or just plain fascinated with tall buildings, it matters not...this is a book everyone can enjoy.