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The Secret Lives of Buildings: From the Ruins of the Parthenon to the Vegas Strip in Thirteen Stories
A strikingly original, beautifully narrated history of Western architecture and the cultural transformations that it representsConcrete, marble, steel, brick: little else made by human hands seems as stable, as immutable, as a building. Yet the life of any structure is neither fixed nor timeless. Outliving their original contexts and purposes, buildings are forced to adapt...more
Hardcover, 352 pages
Published
November 10th 2009
by Metropolitan Books
(first published 2009)
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Fun. Hollis guides the reader on a number of journeys through the physical, historical, social, political, mythical and often, neurotic aspects of particular structures. All in all he does a great job of infusing life into these sundry built things. Taking such standbys as the Parthenon and Hagia Sofia (or Ayasofya) and less obvious choices such as a strip of the Berlin Wall, a Vegas Casino, and Mary’s floating granite childhood abode (or abodes as there are fifty iterations apparently), the aut...more
This is an extremely cool book, especially for ancient history nerds and people looking to be inspired to travel. Edward Hollis covers thirteen famous buildings, starting with the Parthenon and ending in Vegas, offering a history of how they were used. The theme is the evolution of a building's purpose (and, secondarily, its physical architecture) across cultures, religions, empires, and centuries. The method is telling snippets of history, but just the really interesting parts. The story of the...more
A strikingly original, beautifully narrated history of Western architecture and the cultural transformations that it represents Concrete, marble, steel, brick: little else made by human hands seems as stable, as immutable, as a building. Yet the life of any structure is neither fixed nor timeless. Outliving their original contexts and purposes, buildings are forced to adapt to each succeeding age. To survive, they must become shape-shifters. In an inspired refashioning of architectural history,...more
Well this is a perfectly fine piece of non fiction. My biggest complaint was the vaulted language. The author's love of architecture and history comes through, but in the end I felt like this book was a little light on details. I wouldn't call it dense. Rather than feeling informed about a fascinating topic, I felt like I got enough of a taste to want to seek out a better book with more information now that I have a broad understanding of the changing role of the buildings in the book. The narra...more
Any student knows that the best part of a history class is side tracking your professor by getting them to tell some random obscure little story about the place/time you're studying. This is a book of 13 of those random stories, each which tell the story of a particular place. I've taught Venice, the Parthenon, the Berlin Wall, and yet, this book told me stuff I never knew. As it is 13 separate stories, stopping and coming back to it is possible without losing a narrative thread (as is jumping a...more
I enjoyed this book, but it wasn't what I was expecting. I have to say this up front, I am so glad somebody FINALLY decided to write about a place instead of their life at the place. Hollis' approach using Thomas Cole's The Architect's Dream throughout his book is brilliant. Also, he has introductory pieces before each building, which was nice. The actual history of the buildings is so-so. I realize that you could write volumes on the history of each building, but sometimes the narrative jumped...more
Centered around 13 different buildings and the history contained therein. The concert of the book is much better than the execution. The author uses a whimsical writing style that I suppose is attempting to pass for prose to indirectly tie together the buildings, cultural and historical stories into a somewhat common thread. I found myself much more interested in the actual story of the buildings (never told) than the meandering thoughts of Hollis about the historical significance and nature of...more
I was astonished by how good this book was. It was recommended to me by my husband who read it a couple of years ago after I gave it to him for a Christmas gift thinking that it looked like something he would like. He then said I really would and should read it, so it has been my upstairs bathroom reading material for awhile now.
This is not a book simply for architecture buffs, though if you are, you will enjoy it. It is also engaging for anyone who enjoys history, art, culture, or just a good s...more
This is not a book simply for architecture buffs, though if you are, you will enjoy it. It is also engaging for anyone who enjoys history, art, culture, or just a good s...more
Secret Lives reminds me of Cod, by Kurlansky, or Omnivoure's Dilemma, by Pollan. It has changed my world view by picking out a detail with care and diligent research and much thought of something that I had taken for granted, meaning not given any thought of my own on. I had to go to the internet several times to find out more because it just piqued my curiosity so much. I have to say I have a new appreciation of history, religion, sociology, politics because of this book. And often that appreci...more
The buildings mentioned in this book range in time, as did the commentaries. The main idea I came away with is that buildings are constantly changing as the needs of their users change. Even the act of restoration changes the building from what it evolved into. This is not necessarily good or bad, it just is.
The chapter on the Cathedral of Notre Dame was probably the most interesting.
The chapter on the Cathedral of Notre Dame was probably the most interesting.
"The scene was what architecture was, and is, and should be. but just before he awoke, the architect realized that he was dreaming, and he recalled the words of Prospero renouncing his conjured dominion at the end of The Tempest.
'The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind: We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rou...more
'The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind: We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rou...more
very creative way to discuss architecture, author tells stories about them, starting with the parthenon and ending with the new wall in israel. fairly insightful, but to get the fullest out of this you need a good dictionary or knowledge of terms. some especially good chapters on the alhambra, the hulme crescents in manchester, the venetian in las vegas. well shoot, they are all good.
I don't know exactly what it was, but I just couldn't get into the book. I rarely stop reading a book in the middle, but I did this time. I almost shut the book in the foreword, it was that bad. I think I just didn't care for Hollin's writing style.
I loved the stories of the (relatively) newer buildings, but the stories about the ancient ones felt too much like fairytales. The tale of Notre Dame is particularly well-written. In fact, I had to read it a few times before I saw how carefully structured and meaningful it was. The Berlin Wall, the Hulme Crescents are also brilliant stories.
It's surprising to read a book about architecture that is so like a book of short stories. Ambitious project, fairly successful, all things considered.
I on...more
It's surprising to read a book about architecture that is so like a book of short stories. Ambitious project, fairly successful, all things considered.
I on...more
Overall, I really enjoyed this book, although I had a couple qualms. Hollis looks at 13 different pieces of architecture and shows how they are not the static, idealized buildings we think of them as, but are dynamically changing throughout history. He makes some very interesting points, and the book is fairly entertaining throughtout. However, as I am not very familiar with architecture, I do think the book would have benefitted greatly from additional illustrations and pictures. Also, Hollis t...more
From the Parthenon to the Las Vegas strip, The Secret Lives of Buildings traces the histories of twelve buildings mostly through the lives of some of their inhabitants. Lyrical, and with a rolling sense of history, you're left with the sense that these are only a fraction of the stories that are out there to be told.
110 pages in, this is on the short list of best things I've ever read. It's the closest thing to a non-fiction version of Invisible Cities that I've yet encountered.
Updated 1/17 -- finished it on the Croatia trip. This is completely fucking brilliant. The title sounds misleadingly like educational television, but the book itself is a series of wonders. (Invisible Cities itself is even skillfully rerun with Sheldon Adelson in the role of Marco Polo). There are no weak chapters here (the Alhambra...more
Updated 1/17 -- finished it on the Croatia trip. This is completely fucking brilliant. The title sounds misleadingly like educational television, but the book itself is a series of wonders. (Invisible Cities itself is even skillfully rerun with Sheldon Adelson in the role of Marco Polo). There are no weak chapters here (the Alhambra...more
I think I didn't *really* understand what the author was trying to get at until the last few chapters, and that kind of makes me want to go back and read some of the other chapters again - except I'm not quite compelled enough to spend the precious extra reading time. Suffice it to say that some of the stories were vivid and exciting in and of themselves, others less so. The author seems to be weaving tales from the "facts" of history and architecture and is only sometimes successful in making t...more
An interesting series of architecture histories. Each chapter features a different world-famous building. I skipped quite a few of them, but the ones I read were worthwhile.
Nov 01, 2012
Alex
marked it as to-read
This could be interesting. Some reviews suggest that it's a little touchy-feely, not enough actual history - maybe flip through it to check it out.
Starts slow and includes more religion that I would have liked, but comes together nicely at the end.
easy read history about the architecture and culture around some of the the world's most famous structures
The title of this book was facinating. I thought this would be such and interesting book. Instead it was dry and a bit boring. Just stories about different buildings. I am not sure what I was expecting but it wasn't this.
Less a history than a collection of narratives, and like many sets of stories, only a few are really good. More diagrams would have helped, I think.
This book was awful and I honestly did not finish it.
If it is well done, I like historical fiction - like Louis L'Amour. This is something else entirely. It is a creative work that tries too hard in that aspect and that mixes it's "history" right in with it's "art" so you have no way of discerning truth from fiction. It attempts to pass off things as history that are incorrect and and while there are some end notes, they aren't actually noted in text. Marrying history and creativity can be done...more
If it is well done, I like historical fiction - like Louis L'Amour. This is something else entirely. It is a creative work that tries too hard in that aspect and that mixes it's "history" right in with it's "art" so you have no way of discerning truth from fiction. It attempts to pass off things as history that are incorrect and and while there are some end notes, they aren't actually noted in text. Marrying history and creativity can be done...more
A fascinating look at the history connected to a variety of buildings around the world. As well as a good contemplation of our desire and motivation for preservation.
Finally giving up on finishing this one. Got through Notre Dame. Stories of buildings, or rather of people's ideas of what buildings should be, or are, or aren't. Wish there were more pictures, though obviously not always possible. Still the brief sketches at the beginning of the chapters is not enough, even though the author paints the buildings for us with words.
This book really isn't my thing but it was interesting. It looks at 13 different buildings and how they have been altered over the years.
This is an interesting book on the history of selected structures, from the Parthenon of Ancient Greece to a modern casino. Edward Hollis details the original purpose of the buildings and then describes how the buildings were altered over time, both in structure and in useage. I felt the most interesting buildings he wrote about were the Parthenon, the Berlin Wall, and the Western Wall.
Fascinating, and a fun view into a wide swatch of history. Good coverage of some middle Eastern and Islamic history I hadn't found in an accessible book before.
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