SuitabookSkyscrapers
Didier Cornille
- Reading
- Read it as a visual survey rather than a complete history. Pause at the section drawings to trace how each building works, then invite further exploration of architects and perspectives not included.
- Themes
- How buildings are made: The book explains selected skyscrapers through architects, building forms, construction sequences and structural features, including section drawings and technical details. Architecture is presented as a field of design and problem-solving, with attention to how tall buildings are constructed and made stable.
- Who is represented in architectural history: The book addresses who is represented in architectural history; the detail of how it is developed remains unclear. The selection gives prominence to these architects, but the book’s reasons for excluding women and its wider account of the profession are unclear.
- Worth knowing
- Consider discussing whose achievements become part of architectural history. The selection presents eight men, so readers may notice that women architects are not represented in this particular survey.