Main entry:

Morshed, Adnan.

Title & Author:

Impossible heights : skyscrapers, flight, and the master builder / Adnan Morshed.

Publication:

Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, [2015]

Description:

xi, 291 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 27 cm

Notes:
Includes index.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Introduction : The aesthetics of ascension -- Hugh Ferriss and the "harmonious development of man" -- Ascension as autobiography : Buckminster Fuller and his "land to sky, outward progression" -- The master builder as Superman : Norman Bel Geddes's Futurama -- Epilogue : The God's-eye vision.

Summary:

"The advent of the airplane and skyscraper in 1920s and '30s America offered the population an entirely new way to look at the world: from above. The captivating image of an airplane flying over the rising metropolis led many Americans to believe a new civilization had dawned. In Impossible Heights, Adnan Morshed examines the aesthetics that emerged from this valorization of heights and their impact on the built environment. The lofty vantage point from the sky ushered in a modernist impulse to cleanse crowded twentieth-century cities in anticipation of an ideal world of tomorrow. Inspired by great new heights, American architects became central to this endeavor and were regarded as heroic aviators. Combining close readings of a broad range of archival sources, Morshed offers new interpretations of works such as Hugh Ferriss's Metropolis drawings, Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion houses, and Norman Bel Geddes's Futurama exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Transformed by the populist imagination into "master builders," these designers helped produce a new form of visuality: the aesthetics of ascension. By demonstrating how aerial movement and height intersect with popular "superman" discourses of the time, Morshed reveals the relationship between architecture, art, science, and interwar pop culture. Featuring a marvelous array of never before published illustrations, this richly textured study of utopian imaginings illustrates America's propulsion into a new cultural consciousness."--Publisher information

ISBN:

9780816673186 (hardback)
0816673187 (hardback)
9780816673193 (pb)
0816673195 (pb)
(ebook)
9781452942964

Subject:

Ferriss, Hugh 1889-1962
Fuller, Richard Buckminster 1895-1983
Geddes, Norman Bel 1893-1958
Architecture and society United States History 20th century.
Technological innovations Social aspects United States History 20th century.
Architecture, Modern 20th century Philosophy.
Aeronautics and civilization.
Architecture et société États-Unis Histoire 20e siècle.
Innovations Aspect social États-Unis Histoire 20e siècle.
Architecture 20e siècle Philosophie.
Aéronautique et civilisation.
ARCHITECTURE History General.
DESIGN History & Criticism.
ARCHITECTURE Design, Drafting, Drawing & Presentation.
Architecture and society.
Architecture, Modern Philosophy.
Technological innovations Social aspects.
Hochhaus
Städtebau
Luftfahrt
Architekt
United States.
USA

Form/genre:

History.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 288622
Call No.: BIB 230383
Status: Available