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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 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...more
Hardcover, 272 pages
Published
November 10th 2009
by Metropolitan Books
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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
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 ju...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, o...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, o...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.
Margaret Sankey
added it
Following the varied lives and uses of iconic buildings in vivid anecdotes, from the Parthenon (temple, church, armory, palace, tourist trap), the Alhambra, Sans Souci (Potsdam), the Venetian (Las Vegas) to the Berlin Wall (the Anti-Fascist Protection Rampart, officially, from construction to souvenir rubble).
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 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 consid...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 consid...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.
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.
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.
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.
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