The Age of Spectacle
Adventures in Architecture and the 21st-Century City
Published on 20. April 2017
Book
Hardback
384 pages
978-1-84794-652-2 (ISBN)
Description
'A great storyteller . . . you would be hard pushed to find a more knowledgeable or entertaining [guide]' Icon
'Such an interesting book . . . I cannot recommend it enough.' Lauren Laverne
In Dubai, a luxury apartment block is built in the shape of a giant iPod. In China, President Xi Jinping denounces the trend of constructing 'bizarre' new buildings in wacky shapes and colours. In Cincinnati, celebrity architect Zaha Hadid is paid millions to design a single 'iconic' structure - with the hope of single-handedly transforming the region's ailing fortunes. These incidents are all part of the same story: the rise of the age of spectacle.
Over the last fifty years, there has been a revolution in how our cities operate. In The Age of Spectacle, Tom Dyckhoff tells the story of how architecture became obsessed with the flashy, the monumental and the ostentatious - and how we all have to live with the consequences. Exploring cityscapes from New York to Beijing, and from Bilbao to Portsmouth, Dyckhoff shows that we are not just witnessing a new kind of building: we are living through a fundamental transformation in how our urban spaces work. The corporate explosion of the last few decades has fundamentally shifted the relationship between architects, politicians and cities' inhabitants, fostering innovative new kinds of engineering and design, but also facilitating ill-conceived vanity projects and commercial power-grabs.
Timely, passionate and bursting with new ideas, The Age of Spectacle is both an examination of how twenty-first century cities work, and a manifesto for a radically new kind of urbanism. Our cities, Dyckhoff shows, can thrive in the age of spectacle - but only if they engage us not just with dazzling structures, but by responding to the needs of the people who inhabit them.
'Engaging . . . The "iconic" building is the most obvious architectural phenomenon of our age yet, somehow, no one has quite done what Tom Dyckhoff does with The Age of Spectacle, which is to tell its story clearly and plainly.' Rowan Moore, Observer
'First class. Finally, a book that nails the iconic movement - Tom Dyckhoff's The Age of Spectacle is the book that I wish I had written.' Simon Jenkins
'Unusually accessible [and] well argued.' Evening Standard
'Such an interesting book . . . I cannot recommend it enough.' Lauren Laverne
In Dubai, a luxury apartment block is built in the shape of a giant iPod. In China, President Xi Jinping denounces the trend of constructing 'bizarre' new buildings in wacky shapes and colours. In Cincinnati, celebrity architect Zaha Hadid is paid millions to design a single 'iconic' structure - with the hope of single-handedly transforming the region's ailing fortunes. These incidents are all part of the same story: the rise of the age of spectacle.
Over the last fifty years, there has been a revolution in how our cities operate. In The Age of Spectacle, Tom Dyckhoff tells the story of how architecture became obsessed with the flashy, the monumental and the ostentatious - and how we all have to live with the consequences. Exploring cityscapes from New York to Beijing, and from Bilbao to Portsmouth, Dyckhoff shows that we are not just witnessing a new kind of building: we are living through a fundamental transformation in how our urban spaces work. The corporate explosion of the last few decades has fundamentally shifted the relationship between architects, politicians and cities' inhabitants, fostering innovative new kinds of engineering and design, but also facilitating ill-conceived vanity projects and commercial power-grabs.
Timely, passionate and bursting with new ideas, The Age of Spectacle is both an examination of how twenty-first century cities work, and a manifesto for a radically new kind of urbanism. Our cities, Dyckhoff shows, can thrive in the age of spectacle - but only if they engage us not just with dazzling structures, but by responding to the needs of the people who inhabit them.
'Engaging . . . The "iconic" building is the most obvious architectural phenomenon of our age yet, somehow, no one has quite done what Tom Dyckhoff does with The Age of Spectacle, which is to tell its story clearly and plainly.' Rowan Moore, Observer
'First class. Finally, a book that nails the iconic movement - Tom Dyckhoff's The Age of Spectacle is the book that I wish I had written.' Simon Jenkins
'Unusually accessible [and] well argued.' Evening Standard
Reviews / Votes
Engaging . . . The "iconic" building is the most obvious architectural phenomenon of our age yet, somehow, no one has quite done what Tom Dyckhoff does with The Age of Spectacle, which is to tell its story clearly and plainly. -- Rowan Moore * Observer * Unusually accessible [and] well argued. * Evening Standard * A great storyteller . . . you would be hard pushed to find a more knowledgeable or entertaining [guide] * Icon * First class. Finally, a book that nails the iconic movement - Tom Dyckhoff's The Age of Spectacle is the book that I wish I had written. -- Simon Jenkins Laced with irony and personal anecdote . . . A knowledgeable guide . . . There's no lack of wit or perceptive analysis in the book. * The Times *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Cornerstone
Illustrations
b/w
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 162 mm
Thickness: 35 mm
Weight
648 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-84794-652-2 (9781847946522)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Tom Dyckhoff is one of Britain's best-known commentators on architecture and urbanism. He is the presenter of The Great Interior Design Challenge and the Radio 4 series The Design Dimension. He was previously architecture and design critic for BBC2's flagship arts programme The Culture Show and architecture critic of The Times. He presented The Secret Life of Buildings for Channel 4, and his seven-part BBC2 series, Saving Britain's Past, examined Britain's obsession with heritage. An Honorary Fellow of the Royal Institute for British Architects, Dyckhoff has written widely for publications including the Guardian, GQ, Wallpaper, and the New Statesman. He lives in London.