Time Great Buildings

- Join TIME as it takes you on a journey exploring the most memorable structures and buildings the world has ever seen.- Profiles include the Empire State Building, the Sydney Opera House, the Taj Mahal, as well as Stonehenge and Macchu Picchu.- Breathtaking photography and fascinating historical anecdotes accompany each structure and building.

Explore the world's most fascinating historical and contemporary buildings - from ancient pyramids to hi-tech skyscrapers- in this essential guide to architecture. Great Buildings gives you an overview of the history of architecture from the ancient world to the present day. It takes you on guided tours of more than 50 masterpieces of every architectural style, from the Great Pyramid of Giza to Chartres Cathedral, Sydney Opera House, and the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao. Each building is analysed visually. CGI cutaway artworks peel away roofs and walls to reveal its structure, and close-up photographs home in on details of period style. Great Buildings takes a worldwide look at both historical and contemporary architecture. It shows you how to "read" buildings and work out when they were constructed. What is the difference between a Doric and an Ionic column? How does a flying buttress work? Why do concrete balconies appear to float in thin air? You will find all the answers here, along with a wealth of intriguing stories about the patrons, builders, and architects who made each architectural masterpiece possible. Reading Great Buildings is like being taken on a personal tour by a guide who shows you exactly what to look at. It unlocks the secrets of architecture and tells the stories behind each building, making it the perfect introduction to architecture.

How mathematics helped build the world's most important buildings from early Egypt to the present From the pyramids and the Parthenon to the Sydney Opera House and the Bilbao Guggenheim, this book takes readers on an eye-opening tour of the mathematics behind some of the world's most spectacular buildings. Beautifully illustrated, the book explores the milestones in elementary mathematics that enliven the understanding of these buildings and combines this with an in-depth look at their aesthetics, history, and structure. Whether using trigonometry and vectors to explain why Gothic arches are structurally superior to Roman arches, or showing how simple ruler and compass constructions can produce sophisticated architectural details, Alexander Hahn describes the points at which elementary mathematics and architecture intersect. Beginning in prehistoric times, Hahn proceeds to guide readers through the Greek, Roman, Islamic, Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, and modern styles. He explores the unique features of the Pantheon, the Hagia Sophia, the Great Mosque of Cordoba, the Duomo in Florence, Palladio's villas, and Saint Peter's Basilica, as well as the U.S. Capitol Building. Hahn celebrates the forms and structures of architecture made possible by mathematical achievements from Greek geometry, the Hindu-Arabic number system, two- and three-dimensional coordinate geometry, and calculus. Along the way, Hahn introduces groundbreaking architects, including Brunelleschi, Alberti, da Vinci, Bramante, Michelangelo, della Porta, Wren, Gaudí, Saarinen, Utzon, and Gehry. Rich in detail, this book takes readers on an expedition around the globe, providing a deeper understanding of the mathematical forces at play in the world's most elegant buildings.

" ... features 100 examples of architecture ..."--Inside flap.

"From Fifth Avenue-shaping Rockefeller Center, the first AIA honoree in 1969, to Richard Meier's Darien, Connecticut, Smith House, created in 1965 to 1967 and winner of the year 2000 prize, this book investigates the structures that mark and define our era."--BOOK JACKET.

With a new age of great architecture in full flight, the editors of TIME explore the most astonishing structures of the 21st century, the most influential buildings of the past and the master architects who have helped shape contemporary life. Here are visions of great beauty, from the Taj Mahal to the Sydney Opera House. Here are icons that resonate with history: the Pyramids at Giza, the Château de Versailles, Britain's Westminster Palace. Here are memorable homes, from Thomas Jefferson's stately Monticello to Frank Lloyd Wright's serene Fallingwater. Here are buildings touched by genius and sanctified by worship, marvels of engineering and lofty skyscrapers. Here are great eras of design, from the classical age to Art Nouveau to the International Style. Here are the most striking buildings of our time, from the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, to the Burj Khalifa skyscraper in Dubai, which thrusts more than a half-mile into the heavens and became the world's tallest building when it opened in 2010. And here are profiles and portfolios of five groundbreaking architects:20th century masters Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright, as well as contemporary visionaries Norman Foster, Frank Gehry and Santiago Calatrava. Completely updated from a popular 2004 TIME Books classic, the volume is lavishly illustrated with a host of spectacular photographs. In exploring civilization's most enduring creations, Great Buildings also offers an eye-opening encounter with the history, aesthetics and religions of the world's major cultures.