Skyscrapers

Rating:
Summary: A Tall Book For Tall Buildings!
Review: (The following review is dedicated to the brave men and women who lost their lives on 9/11/01.)

At first glance, the aptly titled "Skyscapers" pictorial has the guise of a tall building. With an impeccable presentation, the book faithfully maintains the original context of each building represented with beautiful black & white photos. It gives the reader a nuts-and-bolts perspective: Judith Dupre, et al, along with the enigmatic architect, Philip Johnson, the unparalled book takes the reader on an incredible journey. From the pioneering Reliance Building in Chicago to the defunct World Trade Center in New York City, from the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco to the Ulm Cathedral in Germany--it never ceases to amaze me, the enormous contributions these towering marvels have made in our behalf. They're magnificent places where people gather to work and make an honest living. And, they're magnificent places where people gather to worship and reflect upon life's mere existance. All things considered, this book will inspire any aspiring architect to reach for the sky. At home, it proudly sits atop my desk. If you're an architectural buff, this is the book for you.

Rating:
Summary: A Tall Book For Tall Buildings!
Review: (The following review is dedicated to the brave men and women who lost their lives on 9/11/01.)

At first glance, the aptly titled "Skyscapers" pictorial has the guise of a tall building. With an impeccable presentation, the book faithfully maintains the original context of each building represented with beautiful black & white photos. It gives the reader a nuts-and-bolts perspective: Judith Dupre, et al, along with the enigmatic architect, Philip Johnson, the unparalled book takes the reader on an incredible journey. From the pioneering Reliance Building in Chicago to the defunct World Trade Center in New York City, from the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco to the Ulm Cathedral in Germany--it never ceases to amaze me, the enormous contributions these towering marvels have made in our behalf. They're magnificent places where people gather to work and make an honest living. And, they're magnificent places where people gather to worship and reflect upon life's mere existance. All things considered, this book will inspire any aspiring architect to reach for the sky. At home, it proudly sits atop my desk. If you're an architectural buff, this is the book for you.

Rating:
Summary: A treasure trove of big photos and little treats!
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A book for everyone
Review: I have the 1996 hardcover edition of this book and do not know what revisions have been made to this latest addition, however I imagine the text and content will be very similar.
I have found this book to be an excellent source of information on skyscapers in general and the buildings featured in particular.
It has a very easy to read format, witch follows the developement of the skyscraper, with two pages at a time dedicated to one building. This makes it ideal for flicking through and just reading here and there at what ever catches your eye. There are also small gerneral interest and overviews pages troughout the book that help to explain the developement of these buildings.
Not a lot of technical details also make this an easy read and ideal for younger readers.
This is one of the best books I have seen on the subject and I have no reservations recomending this book to anyone even remotely interested in these large buildings.

Rating:
Summary: Skyscrapers, Bridges, Churches
Review: I love "Skyscrapers" and "Bridges" and I'm looking forward to publication of "Churches" by Judith Dupre' The former book is tall and the latter is wide in order to accommodate exceptional photographs. They look great just leaning up against a wall ready for frequent reading. More specific comments at the "Bridges" site.

Rating:
Summary: Good but not excellent.
Review: I really like this book a lot. It's one of my favorite architecture books and it's very insightful. I have two problems with it though. The first is I think Dupre needed to go farther into the future. The world is still building skyscrapers and there are many already planned for well in the future. Her book only mentions one building that is not yet under construction yet the most intriguing, inspirational structures were left out. I can think of many planned to be compleated between 2002 and 2004. I also know many of these were already drawn out and had models available at time of publishing. My only other problem is the photography. Some of the top architectural photographers in the world shot many of these pictures yet they were absolutly butchered! Some idiot does not understand the subtulties that make an excellent image and the choice to print in all black and white was the biggest mistake in the book! I am an architectural photographer and would never have given permission to have my photography reproduced in this terrible manner. I was dodging and burning better than that my first term in school! And many of these photographs (which I've seen before) have been raped of their precious color which is often a major meaning for both photographer and architect. I sure know color is a major part of MY photography (home.earthlink.net/~wildwell/index.html). All and all though I would say this book is very good and I'm more than overjoyed I ever purchased it!

Rating:
Summary: An exuberant, elegant, and thoughtful survey of skyscrapers.
Review: I wish to call attention to Judith Dupre's _Skyscrapers_(New York,Black Dog & Leventhal,1996) which on first glance one might relegate to the coffee table. Designed to accommodate photos of very tall buildings, the book itself stands a foot and a half tall and like the structures it represents, is likely to tower over the other volumes on the shelf.A model of exuberant and elegant design, this book is also athoughtful historical survey which focuses on 50 significantstructures including the Ulm Cathedral (the world's tallest spire), the Washington Monument (tallest masonry tower) and the Eiffel Tower. Naturally, the buildings of NYC and Chicago which Dupre calls, "the two great laboratories of skyscraper design" take center stage, but the book should appeal broadly because of its appreciative sense ofthe ancient and universal inclination of city builders (since Babel) to put up towers. (The tallest buildings in the world are now going up in the Pacific Rim nations.)Dupre also had the good sense to allow her interview with Philip Johnson to serve as the introduction. Johnson, one of the master skyscraper builders (represented here by his AT&T headquarters and "Lipstick" building in NYC and the magnificent NationsBank Center in Houston), maintains an agreeable sense of detachment toward thismonumental and at times, pretentious artform. He points out that "there is no economic need to build skyscrapers anywhere... There is never a relationship between the cost of these buildings to their utility...[not even in Manhattan.] Skyscrapers will always be fancy,they will always be expensive, they will always be extra. It's pride. Towers are for power." He speaks more affectionately of his tiny "Gatehouse" built in 1995 than the AT&T building with the conspicuous Chippendale top. At 90, he says he is in mid-career and yearns tobuild a colossal statute along the lines of the Statue of Liberty.Author Dupre is respectful of these great towers, but not uncritical.She points out that the building New Yorkers would most like to see torn down is the huge and utterly misplaced Pan Am building. And she points to other inappropriate constructions. (Frank Lloyd Wright'sstriking Price Tower in Bartlesville, Oklahoma is so impractically designed, that it is useless as office space.)This book will have great appeal to students from engineering, and related disciplines who have wandered into an urban studies courses; but as author Dupre points out, it really is for all those "who like to look up when they walk down a city street." At around $20, it isalso a bargain.Jim WunschEmpire State Colleg

Rating:
Summary: Skyscrapers!
Review: I've always been a great fan of skyscrapers. Eventually I started my own website and joined a few forums where other skyscraper lovers meet. My dad bought me this book and I love it. You can tell just by looking at my near destroyed copy of it. :D. It sits near my chair covered in coffee stains and filthy for how much I've read it!
One thing did get me. I'm from Melbourne Australia and the writer takes a bit of a shot at Melbournes Rialto Towers. I was annoyed at first, I love our tallest skyscraper, but then I realised Judith Dupre was right. Rialto could have been built anywhere. I was just biased towards my home tower.
So yeah, great book. Opened my eyes alot to the buildings I see every day and my perception of them

Rating:
Summary: Interesting material, though a bit too poetic at times...
Review: My wife was in Chicago recently for a quilt show, and she picked up a book for me while she was there. It's called Skyscrapers by Judith Dupre, and it's an interesting coffee table book.

To start with, the size of the book is unique. To emphasize the "tallness" of the subject matter, the book measures 18 inches by 8 inches. It definitely doesn't fit on a bookshelf too well. Each two page combination in the book examines one of the world's tallest or most unique skyscrapers. The photography is well done, and the description and history of the buildings is often interesting. If you're an architect or someone who appreciates the art of structures, you'll think this book is wonderful. The only fault I can find with it (and it's more me than the book) is that the author tends to wax lyrical about artistic details and concepts that sometimes go a bit overboard. I guess I'm not "in touch" with my inner self... I found myself thinking "It's a building! Get over it!" more than once.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting material, though a bit too poetic at times...
Review: My wife was in Chicago recently for a quilt show, and she picked up a book for me while she was there. It's called Skyscrapers by Judith Dupre, and it's an interesting coffee table book.

To start with, the size of the book is unique. To emphasize the "tallness" of the subject matter, the book measures 18 inches by 8 inches. It definitely doesn't fit on a bookshelf too well. Each two page combination in the book examines one of the world's tallest or most unique skyscrapers. The photography is well done, and the description and history of the buildings is often interesting. If you're an architect or someone who appreciates the art of structures, you'll think this book is wonderful. The only fault I can find with it (and it's more me than the book) is that the author tends to wax lyrical about artistic details and concepts that sometimes go a bit overboard. I guess I'm not "in touch" with my inner self... I found myself thinking "It's a building! Get over it!" more than once.