Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The decade since the mid-1980s has seen an unparalleled surge in architectural creativity. Completely new design possibilities have been opened up by technological innovations such as computer-aided design, and at the same time there has been a growing cross-fertilization between architecture and art. The face of today's architecture is shaped by masters such as Frank O. Gehry, Zaha Hadid, Rem Koolhaas and Tadao Ando, to name but a few. Whether in Japan, the USA or Europe, everywhere the search is on for new forms, and the impressive results of that quest are presented to the reader. Book jacket.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Introduction: New Geometries (p. 7)
• Urban Strategies: Transport, Communications, Tall Buildings and the Urban Nomad (p. 51)
• Space for Art: A new Generation of Museums (p. 81)
• Places of Gathering: Congress, Worship, Sport and Study (p. 109)
• Art and Architecture: Breaking down the Barriers (p. 143)
• Outlook: Shapes for the Future (p. 179)
• Biographies (p. 227)
• Bibliography (p. 234)
• Index (p. 236)
• Credits (p. 237)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

These two volumes address topics in the earliest and latest periods covered in the publisher's ambitious and almost global (Africa is regrettably not included) 40-volume "World Architecture" series. While Wildung's volume is a fundamental analysis of the ancient Egyptian building arts, Jodidio's book is more of a journalistic review of contemporary trends. After an introductory chapter that presents an architectural vocabulary, Wildung, curator of the Egyptian Museum, Berlin, surveys his topic chronologically from the early dynastic through the Roman periods. Serviceably translated from the German, his prose eschews academic language. Perhaps of the greatest value are the color photographs and the numerous plans and sections. Two indexes cover personal names and monuments, arranged by locality. By contrast, American Jodidio (Richard Meier, Taschen, 1995) arranges his book by building type and offers an innovative chapter on the intersection of art and architecture. Jodidio's introduction provides an overview of the period and useful definitions of postmodernism and deconstructivism. The selection criteria are unclear, however, with practitioners such as Josef Paul Kleihues and Michael Graves curiously absent. The text is a general discussion of design trends rather than an analysis of building form and content. Unfortunately, the index includes personal names only, though the biographies are helpful. In neither volume does the text refer to the illustrations. Nevertheless, the high quality of the graphic material makes these very sound investments for all architecture collections.‘Paul Glassman, Pratt Inst. Lib., New York (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.