A provocative look at architecture-"exceptionally intelligent and original" (Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post Book World) Deyan Sudjic-"probably the most influential figure in architecture you've never heard of" - argues that architecture, far from being auteur art, must be understood as a naked expression of power. From the grandiose projects of Stalin and Hitler to the "theme park" excess of today's presidential libraries, Sudjic goes behind the scenes of history's great manipulators of building propaganda-and exposes Rem Koolhaas, Frank Gehry, and other architects in a disturbing new light. This controversial book is essential reading for all those interested in the power of architecture-or the architecture of power. * A Washington Post Book World Best Book of the Year

The Edifice Complex explores the intimate and inextricable relationship between power, money and architecture in the twentieth century. How and why have presidents, prime ministers, mayors, millionaires and bishops come to share such a fascination with grand designs? From Blair to Mitterrand, from Hitler to Stalin to Saddam Hussein, architecture has become an end in itself, as well as a means to an end. This is a book of genuine timeliness, throwing new light on the motivations of the rich and powerful around the world - and on the ways they seek to affect us.

If this were a novel, the tales of astounding wealth, sexual perversion, murder, munificence, rape, insanity, brutality, slavery, religious mania, selfishness, snobbery, charity, suicide, generosity, theft, madness, wickedness, failure and eccentricity which unfold in these pages would be too concentrated to allow for the willing suspension of disbelief. All these sins and virtues, and more, are displayed by the characters in this book, some exhibiting several of them simultaneously. Folly builders were not as we are. They never built what we now call follies. They built for beauty, utility, improvement; it is only we, struggling after them with our imperfect understanding, who dismiss their prodigious constructions as follies. Follies can be found around the world, but England is their spiritual home. Having written the definitive books on follies in Great Britain, Benelux and the USA, Headley & Meulenkamp have turned their attention to the folly builders themselves, people so blinded by fashion or driven by some nameless ideology that they expended great fortunes on making their point in brick, stone and flint. Most follies are simply misunderstood buildings, and this book studies the motives, characters, decisions and delusions of their builders. If there was madness in their building, fortunately there was no method in it.

This book is not a dictionary, though it tells you all you need know about everything from Authenticity to Zips. It's not an autobiography, though it does offer a revealing and highly personal inside view of contemporary culture. It's an essential tool kit for understanding the modern world. It's about what makes a Warhol a genuine fake; the creation of national identities; the mania to collect. It's also about the world seen from the rear view mirror of Grand Theft Auto V; digital ornament and why we value imperfection. It's about drinking a bruisingly dry martini in Adolf Loo's American bar in Vienna, and about Hitchcock's film sets. It's about fashion and technology, about politics and art.

The Manhattan skyline is one of the great wonders of the modern world. But how and why did it form? Much has been written about the city's architecture and its general history, but little work has explored the economic forces that created the skyline. In Building the Skyline, Jason Barr chronicles the economic history of the Manhattan skyline. In the process, he debunks some widely held misconceptions about the city's history. Starting with Manhattan's natural and geological history, Barr moves on to how these formations influenced early land use and the development of neighborhoods, including the dense tenement neighborhoods of Five Points and the Lower East Side, and how these early decisions eventually impacted the location of skyscrapers built during the Skyscraper Revolution at the end of the 19th century. Barr then explores the economic history of skyscrapers and the skyline, investigating the reasons for their heights, frequencies, locations, and shapes. He discusses why skyscrapers emerged downtown and why they appeared three miles to the north in midtown-but not in between the two areas. Contrary to popular belief, this was not due to the depths of Manhattan's bedrock, nor the presence of Grand Central Station. Rather, midtown's emergence was a response to the economic and demographic forces that were taking place north of 14th Street after the Civil War. Building the Skyline also presents the first rigorous investigation of the causes of the building boom during the Roaring Twenties. Contrary to conventional wisdom, the boom was largely a rational response to the economic growth of the nation and city. The last chapter investigates the value of Manhattan Island and the relationship between skyscrapers and land prices. Finally, an Epilogue offers policy recommendations for a resilient and robust future skyline.

This book will represent one of the most effective and extravagant visions of architecture, one that links the new generations and the old world. In the past few years, Mexico has brought to light a new generation of architects whose extraordinary vision and productivity has positioned the country among the most creative design cultures of the world. Under his own firm FR-EE, since 2000 Fernando Romero has designed and created a number of projects which represent a new vision of Mexican and world architecture. Romero's approach to architecture is innovative and an inspirational tool for empowering future generations. The volume will focus on three themes that intertwine throughout the content of the book. On-site photographs (mainly aerial views) highlight the different places where FR-EE works, from urban centers to the desert. The location is what drives FR-EE's creative work, while the practice strives to investigate the dynamic forces of each site and client. Inspirational photographs give the reader a vision of how Romero's perspective shifts between different focuses of references, and reimagines them in new symbolic visions of the world (from monuments to colors, from natural elements to animals). The images include renderings, photographs, diagrams, plans, and sections. The projects are presented in situ and through architectural drawings, so as to explain the projects' concepts and contents.

For over 25 years our building industry, economy and Government have failed to provide this basic guarantee: new buildings will not rot. Leaky buildings are the result of an unfortunate confluence of industrial, legislative, historical and cultural factors. Collectively, these elements stubbornly continue to defy a full and final resolution. Featuring personal stories of homeowners faced with insurmountable repair costs of hundreds of thousands to their 'dream home', often leading to sickness, depression and financial loss. And revealed for the first time, withheld Government reports that estimate the total cost of leaky dwellings at $47 Billion. Rottenomics is an engaging expose into a national crisis that refuses to go away.

"A new type of achitecture has emerged in the last decade : the iconic landmark building, which challenges the traditional architectural monument. In the past, public buildings expressed shared meaning through well-known conventions. Today those conventions are superceded by commercial forces and the quest for instant fame. Public architecture is now required to be an amazing piece of surreal sculpture as well as something that appeals to a diverse audience - at once provocative and practical yet without the context that religion and ideaology once provided. Such contrary demands drive the architect toward a new convention : the enigmatic signifier. This curious sign suggests many meanings without naming of them. The most publized version of the genre, Frank Gehry's New Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, 1997, became an instant media event that forces other architects to design event buildings routinely. This 'Bilbao effect' has led to a series of landmark buildings by architects such as Norman Foster, Peter Eisenman, Enric Miralles, Zaha Hadid, Daniel Libeskind, Renzo Piano, Will Alsop, and Rem Koolhaas. Some of these buildings are successful creations, while others make us wince." -- book jacket.

Imelda Romualdez Marcos is a Filipino politician who was first lady of the Philippines for twenty-one years, during which time she and her husband are widely believed to have illegally amassed a multibillion dollar fortune, the bulk of which still remains unrecovered. Her personal wealth was estimated at $24 billion in 1979, and today it is thought to be at least $30 billion. She married Ferdinand Marcos in 1954 and became first lady in 1965, when he was elected president of the Philippines. During her tenure as first lady, Marcos owned three thousand pairs of shoes. She imported giraffes?just because she could. Her habit of initiating ostentatious architectural projects using public funds came to be described in common parlance as ?Imeldific.? In 1966, Ferdinand Marcos issued Executive Order no. 60, establishing the Cultural Center of the Philippines and appointing its board of directors. The board would elect Imelda Marcos as chair, giving her legal mandate to negotiate and manage funds for the center. The CCP is considered the central symbol of Imelda Marcos?s ?edifice complex.? Its enormous modernist concrete structures were designed by Filipino architect Leandro Locsin. Imelda Marcos declared the center the ?sanctuary of the Filipino soul.? In these pages, Giovanna Silva inspects the heritage of the country, illustrating the robust relationship between architecture and history.