World Architecture

Journeying through time and place, from the ancient Egyptian pyramids to the soaring skyscrapers of Manhattan, renowned architectural historian Dan Cruickshank explores the most impressive and characterful creations in world architecture. His selection includes many of the world’s best-known buildings that represent key or pioneering moments in architectural history, such as the Pantheon in Rome, Hagia Sophia in Turkey, the Taj Mahal in India and the Forbidden City in China.

A gripping intellectual adventure story, Sailing from Byzantium sweeps you from the deserts of Arabia to the dark forests of northern Russia, from the colorful towns of Renaissance Italy to the final moments of a millennial city under siege.

One of the nation’s chief architecture critics reveals how the environments we build profoundly shape our feelings, memories, and well-being, and argues that we must harness this knowledge to construct a world better suited to human experience. Taking us on a fascinating journey through some...

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2023 BY PUBLISHERS WEEKLY "Revelatory, superbly written, and pulsing with wisdom and humanity, How Infrastructure Works is a masterpiece.” —Ed Yong, author of An Immense World A new way of seeing the essential systems hidden inside our walls, under our streets, and all...

In the tradition of Elizabeth Kolbert and Michael Pollan, The Nature of Our Cities is a stirring exploration of how innovators from around the world are combining urban nature with emerging technologies, protecting the planet’s cities from the effects of climate change and safeguarding the...

What is your home like? Is it big or small? Is it made of concrete, straw, wood, or clay? Step inside homes from around world and learn how different people live in this engaging series that develops kids' understanding of our diverse global community and their place in it.

Sure to be hailed alongside H is for Hawk and The Hare with Amber Eyes, an exceptional work that is at once an astonishing journey across countries and continents, an immersive examination of a great artist’s work, and a moving and intimate memoir. In 2012, facing the death of his father...

The author who unforgettably captured the experience of starting a new life in Tuscany in bestselling travel memoirs expands her horizons to immerse herself—and her readers—in the sights, aromas, and treasures of twelve new special places. A Year in the World is vintage Frances Mayes—a...

Have you ever seen the Eiffel Tower? Gustave Eiffel’s tower is one of the most recognized landmarks in the world, but it wasn’t an easy path to turn his idea into a reality. Listeners will love learning the story behind the name as they follow along with Gustave’s beginnings as a bridge designer and the engineer behind the Statue of Liberty, the criticism and personal attacks by the media he faced while building the tower, and his eventual world-renowned success.

The great pyramids of Giza have intrigued humanity for thousands of years. Questions about the construction and the purpose of these majestic monuments have existed since the middle period of ancient Egyptian civilization; in the sixth century B.C., Herodotus was the first of generations of explorers to travel to Egypt in an attempt to unlock their secrets. Recent cutting-edge research has uncovered information, unimaginable to previous generations, about how and why they were built.

In a series of fascinating tales, Gene Kohn explains how he helped build one of the most successful architecture firms in the world, offering inspiring lessons on business leadership and design innovation that can be applied to many fields.

Forthright and engaging, Kohn examines both award-winning achievements and missteps in his 50-year career in architecture. In the process, he shows how his firm, KPF, has helped change the buildings and cities where we live, work, learn, and play.

Parents obsess over their children's playdates, kindergarten curriculum, and every bump and bruise, but their toys, classrooms, and playgrounds are just as important. These objects and spaces encode decades—even centuries—of ideas about good child-rearing versus bad. What is the Good Toy? Is it wooden, plastic, or even digital? What do youngsters lose when seesaws are deemed too dangerous and slides are designed primarily for safety? How can our built environment help children cultivate self-reliance? In these debates, parents, educators, and kids themselves are often caught in the middle.

The architects selected here have designed buildings that are as dramatic as their impact on the world of architecture. From familiar modern era names such as Zaha Hadid and Sir Norman Foster to geniuses from history such as Nicholas Hawksmoor and Andrea Palladio, Ike Ijeh reveals his top 50 list of the architects deserving of the description "greatest".

From “tomorrow’s greatest designer” (The Atlantic), a deeply researched “essential guide” (Chelsea Clinton) to how humankind designs its world and how those decisions shape us. For the majority of the world, purposefully designed spaces are often only available for those who can afford...

Everything you thought you knew about your favorite travel destinations? There’s so much more. Curated by the relentlessly curious travel journalist and National Geographic regular contributor, Ronan O’Connell, Hidden in Plain Sight invites you on a tour of the world’s most popular...

Imagine you're racing against a deadline for a project pitch, but your CPD hours are looming large, untouched. Maybe you're even spending your weekends poring over lengthy texts on renewable energy systems, wishing there was a way to combine this with your CPD requirements without sacrificing precious downtime—well now there is. Enter a transformative resource in sustainable architecture. This book is designed to streamline your learning process, directly aligning with your CPD requirements while enhancing your expertise in eco-friendly design.

The most definitive guide to Cuban cigars: The Cuban Cigar Handbook profiles the history of cigars in Cuba and features an extensive guide to over 200 varieties. For more than two centuries, Cuban cigars have been heralded as the best cigars in the world. More than just a cigar, they're an art...

From one of the world’s top experts on the economics of skyscrapers—a “fascinating” (Daily Mail, London) and “informative” (Publishers Weekly) account of the ever-growing quest for super tall buildings across the globe. The world’s skyscrapers have brought us awe and wonder, and...

A spellbinding tour, filled with stories of some of the world’s most fascinating architectural mysteries. This wondrous guide for the curious and the intrepid takes readers on a lyrically written tour of eighteen of the world’s most captivating architectural mysteries. Delve into both the...

Delve into the social and cultural history of 100 of the world's most important cities. From the first towns in Mesopotamia to today's global metropolises, cities have marked the progress of civilization. Great Cities offers a rich historical overview of each featured city. The latest title in...