{"product_id":"9780500294789","title":"The Great Builders by Kenneth Powell","description":"The Great Builders surveys the careers of forty great architects whose engineering skills were crucial to their success. Sixteen nationalities and seven centuries of architectural innovation make for a survey of spectacular scope and depth: from churches and fortresses to bridges and high-tech skyscrapers, it includes masterpieces from all over the world and covers 700 years of architectural history.        Here is Brunelleschi, who built the `unbuildable' dome of Florence Cathedral; Sinan, a Christian engineer who became chief architect to the Ottoman court; Joseph Paxton, scribbling down a design for the Crystal Palace, London, on a piece of blotting paper; and James Bogardus, an early American evangelist of the opportunities offered by cast-iron architecture.     Rapid advances in industrial production inspired experiments with new materials and techniques, gradually allowing a whole new architecture to emerge: reinforced concrete, plate glass and steel were central to the creations of Le Corbusier, Auguste Perret and Mies van der Rohe, for instance; and, in the High-Tech architecture of the present day - represented by Norman Foster, Frank Gehry and Santiago Calatrava, among others - computer-aided design has seemingly tested the boundaries of the possible.   With 26 illustrations, 19 in colour\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Paperback \/ softback","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56291339239797,"sku":"9780500294789","price":10.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780500294789.jpg?v=1762739003","url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/products\/9780500294789","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}