New York from the Air: An Architectural Heritage (Abradale) [Hardcover]

John Tauranac (Author)

Book Description

Series: Abradale | Publication Date: December 1, 2001

From the street, New York is a bustling, familiar world. Seen from the air, it's an exotic, uncluttered, beautiful place. From vantage points that few people ever attain, world-renowned aerial photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand has created a lush, romantic tribute to one of the most thrilling cities in history. He reveals the power and beauty of Manhattan's amazing skyscrapers, the bucolic joys of Central Park, and the majesty of the Upper West Side's castle-like apartment buildings. John Tauranac's lively commentaries take readers on a truly spectacular tour of the city. Now, as never before, this book calls to mind all that there is to cherish and celebrate about New York City - and America.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Here is a New York in which you, finally, have the upper hand...and the bird's eye view." -- Chicago Tribune --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 174 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams (December 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0810981912
• ISBN-13: 978-0810981911
• Product Dimensions: 14.6 x 11 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,799,404 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Yann Arthus-Bertrand, the world famous photographer, is renowned for his aerial photography. His bestseller include The Earth from the Air, which has sold over a million copies. He lives on France.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent aerial photographs of Manhattan buildings, January 9, 2004

By 

Ubik Sven (Czech Republic) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: New York from the Air: An Architectural Heritage, Revised Edition (Hardcover)

The book consists of excellent full-page photographs of
widely known Manhattan landmark buildings (other New York
boroughs are not included) taken from unusual perspective
not accessible by pedestrian. Someone complained in a previous
review that most pictures were taken during dawn and dusk.
I think that lighting was very carefully considered and
significantly contributes to the beauty of the photographs.
Description is relatively short, it is a photographic book,
not a city guide. The photographs are much more artistic than
in Robert Cameron's book "Above New York", which, in contrast,
includes also other New York boroughs and photographs cover
larger areas (not single buildings) and are taken during flat
mid-day light.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good Starting Book for New York, December 28, 2001

By 

Greg Markov (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: New York from the Air: An Architectural Heritage (Abradale) (Hardcover)

I bought this book because of my adoration for the City of New York, and the beautiful picture on the front. Those looking for an in-depth history of NYC or more of a "hands-on" book, should look elsewhere. This book provides what the title suggests. It is a brief introduction to the vast world that is New York City. The photography is beautiful, although sometimes blurry at edges. There are small paragraphs explaining what you are looking at. Most of the main attractions are covered (Empire State Building, Central Park, Harlem, Greenwich Village, etc), as well as some others that I didn't know about, but had my eyes opened to. I will definitely be more prepared and educated as I go to NYC next time. The only complaint is that most of the coverage is of Manhattan, and it's attractions and not so much of the other parts of New York, as the book suggests. This was fine by me, as I was mostly interested in Manhattan anyway, but could mislead others. I would highly recommend this book if you like the city of New York, or are planning a trip there. This could be a great supplement as it gives you a different view of the city, one that you can't get just by being there. A view from the air.

21 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A disappointed New Yorker., November 20, 2001

By 

Anonymus49 (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: New York from the Air (Hardcover)

I would not recommend this book for anyone who hasn't lived in New York. I live here and I expected a lot more than I got. After 9/11 I wanted to get more photographic representations of New York City. What I got were inferior photographs and an uninteresting lesson in architecture. Captions to the photographs gave explanations about the design of the building which was of little value. For example the name of the developer, architect, and designer. When multiple buildings were in the picture, as was often the case, the description of each building was hard to follow. There should have been a small schematic with numbers to allow easier interpretation.

Most importantly however, the pictures were nowhere near as good as I would have hoped. Many pictures were taken at dusk and sunset hours and they came out dark. The shadows, especially of pictures in lower Manhattan are long and dilute the quality of the pictures. Many shots of the World Trade Center and their neighboring Battery Park City and WFC are pretty poor. There is an overhead shot of the WTC that is taken at dusk and the smaller buildings are invisible. No pictures were taken at night, when the city has a new life. There were no pictures of Times Square, only one picture where Madison Squeare Garden is partly in the background, no pictures of South Street Seaport (which would come out well if taking a picture of Manhattan from Brooklyn), and many of the pictures were of obscure buildings that most people don't look at.

As a native New Yorker I can appreciate seeing some of the unique buildings and architecture, but as far as a book for sights and photographs there is much to be desired. It almost seems that the photographer just took some pictures and put them together, almost haphazardly. The book was definitely not worth what I paid for it. They could have done so much more with the concept of aerial photos, but I was left disappointed.