Lost Buildings: Demolished, Destroyed, Imagined, RebornHave you ever wished that you could have seen King Solomon's mighty Temple in Jerusalem or climbed to the top of the legendary Tower of Babel? What must it have been like to have paraded up and down the great glass galleries of the Crystal Palace in London in 1851? Why is the Euston Arch, demolished in 1961, still missed? What would buildings described in much loved books have been like if these had existed outside their author's imaginations? Imagine walking through the labyrinthine corridors of Mervyn Peake's mythical Gothic fortress Gormenghast, or visiting Toad Hall. And what of the current trend for reconstructing buildings which were destroyed in wartime or for political reasons?"Lost Buildings" is an invitation to visit buildings long vanished or those demolished within living history, some by dim politicians, others by war or "acts of God", that we would pay good money and travel a long way to see, if only they existed, today. It looks, too, at buildings from literature, myth and children's stories, and some lost opportunities - fantastic, ambitious designs that were never built. There are countless buildings that remain vivid in the collective memory, whether they were once real or were only ever imagined. "Lost Buildings" brings these together for the reader's curiosity and delight. |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Albert Speer ambitious ancient architect architecture artist Atlantis Baroque Beckford Berlin Boullée British built Castle Cathars centre church City of London Classical collapsed Communist completed courtyard Crystal Palace demolished demolition destroyed destruction dome drawing dream earthquake engraving Eridu Euston Arch exhibition famous feet film fire Fonthill Abbey garden German giant glass Gormenghast Gothic grand Greek Hall Hitler huge imagination inside interior Ipatiev House Japanese John King Kubla Khan Le Corbusier Left look Lutyens magnificent mausoleum medieval metres modern Montségur monument Moscow Museum neoclassical never Nonsuch Palace office blocks Opposite original Palast der Republik Park Penn Station photographs political politicians railway rebuilt remains replaced Right Roman ruins Russian Second World skyscraper Soviet space Speer St Paul's Stalin steel stone stood Street structure style survived temple Tower of Babel Tricorn Centre Victorian Volkshalle walls Wembley Stadium wonder Xanadu