Edifice Complex: How the Rich and Powerful Shape the World
What is the connection between the world's power structures and its architectural structures? To what extent does a nations culture, psyche and politics influence its buildings?
Ever lucid and acerbic, Deyan Sudjic, Director of the Design Museum, explains how buildings are all too often used to demonstrate a state's power, to build a nation's cultural identity and to pacify its leaders at the expense of function and aesthetics. Curiously though, some of the architects commissioned by these institutions of power often have very different motivations from those that hire them. Drawing on examples ranging from Hitler's confidant Albert Speer and ground zero's Daniel Libeskind makes for engaging and informative reading.
Sudjic tackles not just the the grander and most apparent examples, but takes in often unexpected constructions, such as Nelson Rockefeller's Albany Mall. He also takes architects to task for allowing form to follow image rather than function. Insightful critiques of trendsetting architects such as Philip Johnson, Frank Gehry, Yung Ho Chang, Rem Koolhaas and Daniel Libeskind all feature in this highly readable overview of the world's present architectural climate.
Format
PB
