Book Review: Uncommon Structures, Unconventional Builders
Uncommon Structures, Unconventional Builders by Alan Van Dine, published by Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2001. Hardcover, 208 pages. (Amazon)
Alan Van Dine approaches the history of the built environment from a unique perspective: highlighting the structures that pique our interest for their uniqueness and un-believability. Obvious examples like the Great Wall of China, Petra, and Machu Picchu sit alongside more humble structures like igloos, Sarah Winchester's "haunted house", and the common bird's nest. My favorite chapters tended towards the exotic, such as the Winchester House, an ever-expanding anomaly built by an heiress of the gun-maker's fortune and built according to seances held by the owner to keep away bad spirits. In many ways, it's the motivations behind these various structures that fascinates, as much as the structures themselves.
Alan Van Dine approaches the history of the built environment from a unique perspective: highlighting the structures that pique our interest for their uniqueness and un-believability. Obvious examples like the Great Wall of China, Petra, and Machu Picchu sit alongside more humble structures like igloos, Sarah Winchester's "haunted house", and the common bird's nest. My favorite chapters tended towards the exotic, such as the Winchester House, an ever-expanding anomaly built by an heiress of the gun-maker's fortune and built according to seances held by the owner to keep away bad spirits. In many ways, it's the motivations behind these various structures that fascinates, as much as the structures themselves.
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