Architecture - Andrew Ballantyne [2]
© Jeremy Horner/Corbis
6 Chandigarh, Punjab, India (1950–65); architect: Le Corbusier (1887–1965)
© Chris Hellier/Corbis
7 The Parthenon, Athens, Greece (447–436 BC); architects: Ictinus and Callicrates working with the sculptor Phidias
© Michael Holford
8 Cathedral of St Etienne, Bourges, France (begun 1190)
© Eye Ubiquitous/Corbis
9 Schröder house, Utrecht, Netherlands (1924); architect: Gerrit Rietveld (1888–1964)
Centraal Museum, Utrecht
10 Falling Water, Bear Run, Pennsylvania (1936–9); architect: Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959)
© Chicago Historical Society
11 Wieskirche, Steinhausen, Bavaria, Germany (1745–54); architect: Dominikus Zimmerman (1681–1766)
© A. F. Kersting
12 Monticello, near Charlottesville, Virginia (1796–1808); architect: Thomas Jefferson (1743–1836)
© R. Lautman/Monticello
13 Maison Carrée, Nîmes, France (AD 1–10); architect: unknown
© A. F. Kersting
14 The Pantheon, Rome, Italy (AD 118–25); architect: anonymous, but worked under the direction of the Emperor Hadrian
Archivi Alinari, Florence
15 Villa Capra, Vicenza, Italy (1569); architect: Andrea Palladio (1508–80)
Archivi Alinari, Florence
16 Chiswick Villa, London, England (1725); architect: Lord Burlington (1694–1753)
© A. F. Kersting
17 Model of Temple of Juno Sospita, Lanuvium – Etruscan temple, according to Vitruvius (5th century BC)
© David Lees/Corbis
18 Seagram Building, Manhattan, New York City (1954–8); architects: Mies van der Rohe (1886–1969) and Philip Johnson (born 1906)
© Bettmann/Corbis
19 Opera House, Sydney, Australia (1957–73); architect: Jorn Utson (born 1918)
© Eye Ubiquitous/Corbis
20 Chicago Tribune Tower, Chicago, Illinois (1923–5); architects: John Mead Howells (1868–1959) and Raymond Hood (1881–1934)
Underwood & Underwood/Corbis
21 Métro entrance surrounds, Paris, France (1899–1905); architect: Hector Guimard (1867–1942)
© Philippa Lewis/Edifice
22 Expiatory Church of the Sagrada Familia, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain (begun 1882); architect: Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926)
© A. F. Kersting
23 Mausoleum of the Taj Mahal, Agra, India (1630–53); architect: Ustad ‘Isa (dates unknown)
© A. F. Kersting
24 Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao, Spain (1997); architect: Frank Gehry (born 1929)
Erika Barahona Ede/© FMGB Guggenheim Bilbao
25 Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, France (1977); architects: Renzo Piano (born 1937) and Richard Rogers (born 1933)
© Eye Ubiquitous/Corbis
Introduction
I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said, ‘Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand
Half-sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings,
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.’
(Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ozymandias, 1818)
Buildings can be the most expensive things that civilizations produce. They can absorb any amount of effort and money if they are to compete with the great buildings of rivals, and of the past. It might seem misguided to try to outdo others when the costs are so high, but no one remembers the civilizations that took such a decision, at least not in architectural history. By contrast civilizations such as ancient Egypt and Rome, which built extravagantly, seem unavoidable. The imperishable buildings seem to go hand in hand with an imperishable reputation, which has always been the appeal of monuments for the powerful. When enough time has passed, all human achievements can seem fragile, and Shelley’s famous poem Ozymandias shows both the attraction of the monumental and also how delusory its promise of everlasting glory can