Alec ForshawRezensionen

While thinking of London may have triggered images of St. Paul's Cathedral, Big Ben, Tower Bridge, and other stone edifices, in the 21st century the city is being transformed by tall buildings of glass and steel (with some stone thrown here and there), many of them landmarks like their masonry predecessors. This book surveys the changes to the City of London (not to be confused with Greater London) through twelve geographical chapters, moving from "around St. Paul's" to "the Riverside." Each chapter maps the buildings (335 in the whole book) like a guidebook, but Forshaw opts for continuous text that meanders through each area like a walking tour, rather than breaking out each building into a separate entry. Actually many buildings would not merit inclusion if the book were a guide, even as each partakes in the city's 21st-century transformation. (See also 21st Century London: The New Architecture, also published by Merrell.)