How To Read Skyscrapers (a Crash Course In High-rise Architecture)

By (author) Denison, Edward; By (author) Beech Nick
Short description/annotation
How To Read Skyscrapers offers a deep and rich understanding of the skyscraper by providing a comprehensive account of this unique and captivating building-type, from its origins in myth and legend to its future potential in satisfying humankind’s needs and aspirations.
Description
Throughout history, the story of the skyscraper has been defined by our desire for ascendance—politically, militarily, economically, religiously, culturally, and, of course, physically. These spectacular superstructures epitomise more than architectural aspiration, they excite the imagination and inspire awe. The scope of the book is deliberately broad with a thematic first section and a geographical second section. Conceptual chapters, introduce the origins of our desire to build high and explore the skyscraper’s role in fuelling our imaginations through different modes of cultural expression. How To Read Skyscrapers offers a deep and rich understanding of the skyscraper by providing a comprehensive account of this unique and captivating building-type, from its origins in myth and legend to its future potential in satisfying humankind’s needs and aspirations.
Table of contents
Introduction

Section 1
1.  Building High
a)  Mythic
b)  Monumental
c)  Military
d)  Religious
e)  Instrumental

2.  Birth of the Skyscraper
a)  New Materials
b)  New Technologies
c)  New Services
d)  New Urban Forms
e)  Motives and Desires

3.  The American Skyscraper
a)  Chicago Commercial
b)  New York Art Deco
c)  Corporate
d)  Post-modern

4.  Skyscrapers Around the World
a)  European
b)  Indian
c)  Chinese
d)  Japanese
e)  South American
f)  African

Section 2
5.  Strange Skyscrapers
a)  30 St Mary Axe (London)
b)  Al Bahr Towers (Abu Dhabi)
c)  CCTV (Beijing)
d)  Turning Torso (Malmo)
e)  Marina Bay Sands (Singapore)
f)  Ryugyong Hotel (North Korea)
g)  Elephant Building (Thailand)
h)  The Big Bend (USA)
6.  Mega Skyscraper
a)  Bank of China (HK) 
b)  Petronas Towers (Malaysia)
c)  Burj Khalifa (Dubai)
d)  Shanghai Tower (China)
e)  Taipei 101 (Taiwan)
f)  Tokyo mile-high (Japan), 
g)  Jeddah Tower (Saudi Arabia) 
h)  One World Trade Centre (USA)
i)  World One (India) 
j)  Al Noor (Morocco))

7.  Skyscrapers of the Imagination
a)  Paper Projects (Architecture)
b)  Literature
c)  Art
d)  Music
e)  Comics
f)  Film

Glossary
Resources
Index
Acknowledgments



 
Biographical note

Edward Denison is an award-winning design and planning consultant, with an expertise in packaging and sustainable design. He lives in London, UK.

Dr Nick Beech an architectural historian with a particular interest in cultures of construction and building. Nick has taught the history, theory and cultural context of architecture at a number of architectural schools in London and Oxford.

 

He is a Lecturer at The Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL) and an independent consultant, writer and photographer specialising in global histories of architecture and the built environment. His work for various international organisations in places as diverse as Africa, China and Europe regularly features in print, electronic and broadcast media internationally. In 2016 he won the RIBA President’s Medal for Research for ‘Asmara - Africa’s Modernist City’ and was very instrumental in the Eritrean capital being included on the World Heritage list in August 2017. Edward specialises in c