Lost Europe

Fülszöveg

WITH OVER 150 HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHS
T
^he twentieth century has brought incalculable changes to the world that existed in 1900, some beneficial, others traumatic and destructive, including warfare on a global scale with weapons lethal to both humankind and the environment. These sweeping changes have affected the manmade landscape of Europe—its architecture— in many ways. Apart from the loss of beautiful and historic buildings to war and civil unrest, comparable losses have been deliberately incurred by narrow views of progress. As populations continue to rise, and space in cities and towns becomes evermore pressured, increasingly creative solutions are required to balance conflicting land-use needs without destroying buildings of value or the character of residential communities. Sadly, the drive for rapid commercial development and modernisation has often overwhelmed any desire to preserve the best of a magnificent past.
Lost Europe is a photographic chronicle of the... Tovább

Fülszöveg

WITH OVER 150 HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHS
T
^he twentieth century has brought incalculable changes to the world that existed in 1900, some beneficial, others traumatic and destructive, including warfare on a global scale with weapons lethal to both humankind and the environment. These sweeping changes have affected the manmade landscape of Europe—its architecture— in many ways. Apart from the loss of beautiful and historic buildings to war and civil unrest, comparable losses have been deliberately incurred by narrow views of progress. As populations continue to rise, and space in cities and towns becomes evermore pressured, increasingly creative solutions are required to balance conflicting land-use needs without destroying buildings of value or the character of residential communities. Sadly, the drive for rapid commercial development and modernisation has often overwhelmed any desire to preserve the best of a magnificent past.
Lost Europe is a photographic chronicle of the architectural treasures lost to civilisation by conflicts, foUies and disasters of the tv^entieth century, featuring over 150 rare and haunting images of vanished structures of every kind. Irreplaceable buildings—sometimes entire town centres—have been lost to acts of war and deliberate destruction in the name of modernisation, commerce or zealous town-planning. They include cathedrals and churches, medieval halls, convents and monasteries, ornate palaces, private dwellings, industrial and civic landmarks and early modern masterpieces whose aesthetic value initially went unrecognised. Each section is introduced by an architectural or conservation expert from the featured country. Cities may be rebuilt and restored, but such damage can never be entirely reversed.
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The rich and varied heritage of centuries, so quickly vanished, is preserved in this evocative photographic collection drawn from archives throughout Europe. The question of how to protect our natural and cultural resources while embracing inevitable change is one of the greatest challenges of our time. This volume underlines the importance of this challenge by exploring a diverse selection of individual fragments of the inestimable loss that has been visited on our manmade environment, iosi Europe provides an enduring and uniquely atmospheric record of the ultimately fragile beauty of a continent's heritage.
Jean Loussier was born in Lyons, France, and grew up in Scotland. He studied history at the University of Oxford, and worked for many years as a translator, writer and editor specializing in history and the arts before retiring to western Scotland. He now divides his time between his two passions: history and the natural environment.
Robin Langley Sommer is a freelance writer and editor whose numerous works on architecture and the decorative arts include Frank Lloyd Wright (1992), The Arts and Crafts Movement (1995), American Architecture: An Illustrated History {1996) and The Old Barn Book (1997).
Front jacket photograph: The medieval Stari Most Bridge in Mostar, Bosnia, which was destroyed by shelling in November 1993. (Underwood Collection, Corbis-Bettmann)
Back jacket photograph: A diissic Parisian metro entrance at Place de la Bastille station, designed by Hector Guimard. While seventeen of Guimard's landmark station entrances remain, this structure was demolished. (Roger-Viollet)
Jacket design by Ziga Design Jacket printed in China
Crescent Books a division of Random House Value Publishing, Inc. 201 East 50th Street New York, NY 10022 http://www.randomhouse.com/
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