THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING

THE MAKING OF A LANDMARK

JOHN TAUVANAC

紐約著名建築史家約翰陶凡納克約翰．陶凡納克，同時身為紐約地鐵地圖首席設計師，以其豐富的在地人文素養，巧妙揉合紐約歷史，鉅細靡遺地將帝國大廈的建造史，完整呈現在世人面前。舉凡建造緣起、過程、當中所牽涉的建築技術與新突破，甚至包含了當時政經介入的幕後祕辛。喜好紐約人文歷史及建築史的讀者，本作可謂不可多得的紀實寶典。

A fascinating combination of architecture and cultural history offers a comprehensive chronicle that captures the excitement and politics involved in the building of the Empire State Building, the technological breakthroughs of its construction, and more. 15,000 first printing.

Sixty-five years old in 1996, the Empire State Building is still the quintessential skyscraper. To millions of tourists who have made it one of New York's most popular attractions, it embodies the notion of the city itself—just as its original architects and promoters intended. Here the acclaimed writer John Tauranac tells the intricate story of one of our premier icons, blending architectural history with the human and technological drama of how the skyscraper was created.

The idea for the Empire State Building emerged from the culture and politics of New York in the early twentieth century, as Democratic presidential candidate Al Smith spearheaded plans to erect the world's tallest skyscraper in the heart of Manhattan. Drawing on extensive archives, Tauranac contextualizes the building within the history of skyscrapers, showing how technological developments allowed the structure to rise as high as it did, and how the builders brain-stormed to solve the specific problems they encountered. The construction of the Empire State Building became one of the great sights of the city, watched as eagerly as a tight pennant race between the Dodgers and the Giants.

Planned during the boom of the 1920s, the skyscraper took less than a year to erect - at an astonishing rate of four and a half floors per week - only to open for business during the Depression. Its resulting low occupancy earned it the sobriquet "The Empty State Building," and the structure teetered on the brink of bankruptcy until World War II. After the war, its image became a familiar one throughout the country - on T-shirts and theater programs, in television commercials and feature films.

■約翰．陶凡納克／John Tauvanac 

Author of Elegant New York and Essential New York, John Tauvanac is a distinguished architectural historian as well as an all-round expert on the city of New York. He was also the chief designer of the official New York subway map, which is still in use. He resides on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

作者：約翰．陶凡納克／John Tauvanac 

版本：First Edition

規格：精裝／Hardback，16.4 x 24.2 x 3.2 cm，384頁

出版商：Scribner

出版日期：1995年11月24日

語言：英文

ISBN-10：0-684-19678-6

非新品書頁泛黃，附保護書套，不介意物品狀況再行購買。

Condition: Good. Pre-owned book in good condition. No missing or damaged pages, no creases or tears. All pages are intact, and the cover is intact as well. With dust jacket.

6,500個窗戶、73部電梯，從底層步行至頂層須經過1,860級台階，總建築面積為204,385平方公尺。