Houses of Glass: A Nineteenth-Century Building Type [Paperback]

Georg H. Kohlmaier (Author), Barna von Sartory (Author), John C. Harvey (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 24, 1991

The glasshouses of the nineteenth century represent a remarkable confluence of opposites in architecture and technology. The architecture was designed to create an artificial climate in which people could return to paradise, and yet the technical means employed were also basic to the century's developing industrial grime -the other side of paradise. Enriched by more than 700 illustrations, Houses of Glass chronicles these pristine structures as they evolved from hothouses into exhibition halls, ballrooms, and theaters.

Georg Kohlmaier is an architect and Barna von Sartory a sculptor. They have collaborated on many books and articles on contemporary architecture.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Translation of the 1981 German Das Glashaus , this is a survey of the architectural development of the glasshousefirst as botanic hothouse, then evolving into exhibition halls, markets, theaters, pleasure gardens, etc. The authors, an architect and a sculptor, first relate the history of the type, with emphasis on the technical and technological aspects as well as the cultural meaning of the glasshouse. They follow this section with a catalog of 126 European and British examples, both extant and destroyed, and conclude with several hundred photographs, mostly of existing buildings. The book is well produced and informative, both in detail and in the broad context of bourgeois culture. For academic collections. Jack Perry Brown, Ryerson & Burnham Libs., Art Inst. of Chicago
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Rich in documentation of the truly extraordinary range of iron-and-glass structures produced in the last century, and the photographs are excellent."
—Paul Goldberger, New York Times Book Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 651 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (April 24, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262610701
• ISBN-13: 978-0262610704
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.1 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,086,705 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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