1000 Monuments of Genius - Christopher E.M. Pearson The Book

Скачать книгу

half-domed spaces, though Sinan’s plan simplifies and streamlines that of the earlier building. Four needle-sharp minarets rise at the corners. The mosque is preceded by a large arcaded courtyard, while Suleiman is buried in an octagonal mausoleum in the cemetery behind. Sinan kept a modest residence for himself at the northern corner of the site.

      61. Sedefkar Mehmet Aga, Mosque of Sultan Ahmed, also known as The Blue Mosque, Istanbul, 1609–1617 (Turkey)

      62. Sultan Qansuh al-Ghuri Caravanserai, Cairo, 1504–1505 (Egypt)

      63. Mimar Koca Sinan ibn Abd al-Mannan, also known as Sinan, The Selimiye Mosque, Edirne, 1568–1574 (Turkey)

      64. Mimar Koca Sinan ibn Abd al-Mannan, also known as Sinan, Shehzade Mosque, Istanbul, 1545–1548 (Turkey)

      65. Nuruosmaniye Mosque, Istanbul, 1748–1755 (Turkey)

      66. Shah Mosque, Isfahan, begun in 1611 (Iran)

      67. Tower Houses, Sana’a, 8th-19th century (Yemen)

      68. Sir Herbert Baker, Union Buildings, Pretoria, 1910–1913 (South Africa)

      69. Hassan Fathy, New Gourna, near Luxor, 1948 and later (Egypt)

      70. Fareed El-Shafei, Mausoleum of the Aga Khan, Aswan, 1959 (Egypt)

      71. Arthur Erickson, Etisalat Tower, Dubai, 1986 (United Arab Emirates)

      72. Henning Larsen, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Riyadh, 1982–1984 (Saudi Arabia)

      73. Michel Pinseau, Hassan II Mosque, Casablanca, 1986–1993 (Morocco)

      74. Snøhetta, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, 1995–2002 (Egypt)

      This great new library, repository of knowledge for researchers from Egypt and neighbouring Islamic countries, deliberately recalls the illustrious precedent of the Library of Alexandria, which was utterly destroyed in ancient times. In 1974, the University of Alexandria decided to build its library on a site close to where the original building once stood. An international effort spearheaded by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarek and supported by UNESCO was launched, and a design competition was held in 1988. From over 1400 entries the Norwegian firm Snøhetta was chosen to build the new library. In plan, the major building is circular, while in profile it features 11 staggered levels that cascade down to the Mediterranean. The main reading room is lit by a glass-paneled roof some 32 metres above the floor. The walls are of Aswan granite, engraved with characters from 120 languages. Though the library has shelf space for 8 million books, it is far from full, relying mainly on donations from foreign countries to build up its holdings; it houses, however, the only copy and external backup of the Internet Archive.

      75. Moshe Safdie, Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial, Jerusalem, begun in 1953 (new buildings 1993–2005) (Israel)

      76. Zvi Hecker, Spiral Apartment House, Ramat Gan, 1984–1990 (Israel)

      77. Peter Barber, Villa Anbar, Dammam, 1992 (Saudi Arabia)

      78. Norman Foster and Buro Happold, Al Faisaliyah Tower, Riyadh, 2000 (Saudi Arabia)

      79. Ellerbe Becket, Omrania & Associates, Kingdom Centre, Riyadh, 2000 (Saudi Arabia)

      80. Carlos Ott, National Bank of Dubai, Dubai, 1996–1998 (United Arab Emirates)

      81. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), Burj Khalifa, also known as Burj Dubaï or Dubaï Tower, 2004–2010. Height: 828 m. Dubaï (United Arab Emirates)

      The tallest building on earth even before it was completed, the Burj Dubai skyscraper was designed by Adrian Smith, who worked with the American architectural firm SOM until 2006. The anticipated height of the tower was left vague during its construction, but it is expected to top out at over 800 metres. Containing offices, luxury residences and a hotel, it is part of the larger “Downtown Dubai” project meant to attract visitors and investors to this small but very wealthy emirate. The tower consists of a central core surrounded by three tall elements that form a series of spiraling setbacks as they rise: in this respect it generally resembles the bundled tube form of the Sears Tower in Chicago, also by SOM, as well as Frank Lloyd Wright’s proposal for a ‘Mile-High’ tower of the 1950s. The building’s three-lobed footprint is said to be derived from floral patterning in Islamic architecture. Its lower part has a frame of special pressure-and heat-resistant reinforced concrete; during the construction process this was mixed with ice and poured at night to allow even curing. The tower’s budget and construction methods have been a source of controversy, costing over 4 billion dollars.

      82. Tom Wright, Burj al Arab hotel, Dubai, 1993–1999 (United Arab Emirates)

      Asia and Oceania

      83. The Great Wall of China, begun in 221 BCE (China)

      India and Southeast Asia

      Little is known of the cultures that produced such prehistoric Indian cities as Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro, which flourished along the banks of the Indus from the 3rd millennium BCE. Laid out on a grid oriented to the cardinal directions, these settlements’ advanced refinements – raised citadels on stepped terraces, sewers, running water for domestic use and large ritual baths – rival those of Sumerian cities of the time, though they are oddly lacking in large royal tombs or religious buildings. In general however, the architectural traditions of the Indian subcontinent – and indeed its surviving monuments – are largely religious in nature, focused on great temple complexes. Architectural style varied according to successive ruling regimes, who dictated the favoured religious system. Four major epochs can be discerned. The most ancient Indian culture, the forerunner of modern Hinduism, is sometimes termed Indo-Aryan, and lasted from about 1500 BCE until about 120 °CE. In the 3rd century BCE the great ruler Asoka imported skilled artisans from Persia to initiate a tradition of skilled stone carving. This period also saw the creation of the first Buddhist monuments, a religion that arose in the 6th century. Substantial Buddhist stupas (gated and domed mounds, serving as centres of pilgrimage), chatiyas (temples) and viharas (monasteries) can be found in southern India, and – as at Ajanta – often utilise natural caves or are cut into rock hillsides. The Kailasa Temple at Ellora (75 °CE), devoted to Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, is part of a great complex of rock-cut architecture at the site. Excavated out of a 2-km stretch of basalt cliff, it was begun by vertical excavation: carvers cut down through the living rock, removing some 200,000 tons of material to create a complex monolithic structure featuring tall monuments and multi-storied

Скачать книгу