In 2003, Bernard Tschumi convened forty of the world's leading architectural designers and theorists for a conference at Columbia University. The State of Architecture brings together manifestos, musings, and meditations to capture the key polemics raised by this extraordinary convocation of thinkers.

Expo 2010 Shanghai was the most ambitious world exposition to date with more than 70 million visitors. It boasted an unprecedented collection of pavilions that represented the ambitions of individual nations as well a collective vision for cities in the new millennium. Together, the buildings constitute a cross section of contemporary trends inarchitecture, showcasing a full spectrum of cutting edge technology, building materials, and design sensibilities. * This book captures this extraordinary architectural event with the eloquent and probing photography of Nic Lehoux. The thorough documentation includes detailed photographic accounts of the various architectural features and thepublic spaces and landscapes that bind them into a total and unique environment. * The accompanying essay situates the event in a long standing tradition of world expositions while underscoring the particular geographic, cultural, and political aspects of the Chinese context that shape the Shanghai Expo and its thematic orientation.

'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

Tokyo has earned a reputation as one of the most innovative and forward-thinking cities in the world, and nowhere is this more evident than in its modern architecture. Authors and architects Julian Worrall and Erez Golani Solomon, longtime residents of the city, have selected 83 outstanding examples of contemporary architecture, and introduce them, not just from an architectural perspective, but as part of the social, cultural, and political tapestry of the city. In addition to the monumental masterpieces of famous architects, "generic" buildings—from office blocks and convenience stores, to high-rise apartment towers—are also sprinkled throughout the book, creating a full and fascinating overview of the architectural landscape of the city. Each of the book's seven chapters covers a different geographical district of Tokyo; and each building is accompanied by a selection of stunning black-and-white photographs. Written in an accessible, conversational style, and including maps and access information for each building, this book will appeal to the layman as well as to the professional architect, the visitor to Tokyo as well as to the armchair traveler.

More than a century after its inception, the skyscraper has finally come of age. Though it has long been lampooned as a venal and inhospitable guzzler of resources, a revolutionary new school of skyscraper design has refashioned the idiom with buildings that are sensitive to their environments, benevolent to their occupants, and economically viable to build and maintain. Designed by some of the best-known architects in the world, these towers are as daring aesthetically as they are innovative environmentally. Big and Green is the first book to examine the sustainable skyscraper, its history, the technologies that make it possible, and its role in the future of urban development. The book examines more than 40 of the most important recent sustainable skyscrapers-including Fox & Fowle's Reuters Buildings in New York, Norman Foster's Commerzbank in Frankfurt, and MVRDV's spectacular Dutch Pavilion from Expo 2000 in Hanover-with project descriptions, photographs, and detailed drawings. Interviews with such leaders in the field as Sir Richard Rogers, William McDonough, and Kenneth Yeang are also included.

Collects the best of Kamin's writings for the Chicago Tribune from the past decade.

Using a variety of economic, financial, and political indicators, this book demonstrates that the global system has become an 'architecture of collapse'. The global financial crisis of 2008, the bilateral relationship between the U.S. and China, and the European sovereign debt crisis illustrate the causes and the consequences of global instability