Behind Facades/a Dramatic Cutaway Look into Five of the World's Architectural Treasures-Featuring Panoramic Foldouts: A Dramatic Cutaway Look into ... -- Featuring Spectacular Panoramic Foldouts [Hardcover]

Trewin Copplestone (Author), Paul Draper (Author, Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1995

A dramatic cutaway look into five of the world's architectural treasures -- featuring spectacular panoramic foldouts

Explore the architecture, design, history, and contents of five of the world's greatest buildings: a church (St. Peter's/Vatican, Rome), a castle (Ludwig's Castle, Bavaria), a palace (Buckingham Palace, London), a commercial building (Paris Opera), and a residence (Monticello, USA). At the turn of a page, their facades are lifted away to reveal stunningly splendid interiors. These magnificent buildings have simply never before been "opened up" in this way. Through the combination of visual elements -- photographs, drawings, cutaways, floor plans, expansive double gatefolds, lively text -- each building is rendered in what adds up to a unique personal portrait, with wonderful intricacy no camera could ever record. In one spectacular view of Buckingham Palace, we see all at once the salon where the Queen dubs knights, the dining room where world leaders toast on state occasions, the withdrawing rooms where ambassadors and citizens are received -- even the guard room where sentries stamp their feet back to warmth after a courtyard vigil. At the Paris Opera, the special artwork reveals the complete workings of the theater -- taking us through the lobby and the multi-tiered auditorium, the orchestra pit and stage, across the catwalks, flats, and flies where the nightly illusions are created. Complementing the visual feast are richly detailed captions and an authoritative text describing the people and events involved in creating each building, as well as anecdotes and other informational gems.

Editorial Reviews

Review

There have been many historical treatises written on the world's fine architectural treasures: now enjoy an armchair journey which emphasizes cutaways and photos. The illustrative quality is beautiful in a volume which provides a refreshingly different three-dimensional portrait of the world's finest architectural achievements. -- Midwest Book Review

Product Details

• Hardcover: 80 pages
• Publisher: Macmillan General Reference (October 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028604318
• ISBN-13: 978-0028604312
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 9.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,594,524 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful!, June 17, 2000

By 

Ashley (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Behind Facades/a Dramatic Cutaway Look into Five of the World's Architectural Treasures-Featuring Panoramic Foldouts: A Dramatic Cutaway Look into ... -- Featuring Spectacular Panoramic Foldouts (Hardcover)

The artwork in this book is absolutely beautiful. Although not a very long book, the layout shows true artistic taste. There is a detailed drawing of each facade that opens up to show the building's interior. These drawings are complimented with photographs of the buildings and their contents. The book focuses on St. Peter's, Buckingham Palace, the Paris Opera, Neuschwanstein (castle), and Monticello. I particularly enjoyed the sections on the Opera and on Monticello. There were so many interesting little facts!