The Grand Tour

Austrian-born Australian architect Harry Seidler died last year at age 82, and he spent the greater part of his life photographing the world's great structures. This book captures over 570 pages worth of those images, all of which retain a timeless quality thanks to Seidler's unerring eye for architectural detail and his strict use of Leica cameras and Kodachrome film. Since he doesn't date the photos (only the construction periods of the buildings highlighted), it is impressive how their visual consistency reflect such a complete awareness of what an architect reviews as significant. It's hard to believe some of the photos are over half a century old. The net impact is that you come away with a much greater appreciation of buildings that have become more familiar more as icons. When it comes to the world's great landmarks, many of the usual suspects are here - the Taj Mahal, St. Peter's, Angkor Wat, Fallingwater - but also less appreciated buildings like Barcelona's German Pavilion and Tokyo's Imperial Hotel. He covers the globe pretty thoroughly, especially Egypt, Italy, France and the U.S., although some countries like Denmark and Thailand are given short shrift as a result. The collection is not complete in the truest sense, but there should be few complaints about what is included here. Seidler complements the images with insightful introductions to each country's specific architecture. Even though the descriptions are brief, they give a helpful context for the unique buildings that were borne out of such political and cultural forces. Moreover, Taschen has decided to discount-price this book in celebration of the publisher's 25th anniversary.