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The Heights: Anatomy of a Skyscraper
From the author of The Works: Anatomy of a City comes a gorgeous graphic tour through the inner workings of skyscrapers.
The skyscraper is perhaps the most recognizable icon of the modern urban landscape. Providing offices, homes, restaurants, and shopping to thousands of inhabitants, modern skyscrapers function as small cities- with infrastructure not unlike that hidden beneath our streets. Clean water is provided to floors thousands of feet in the sky; elevators move people swiftly and safely throughout the building; and telecom networks allow virtual meetings with people on other continents. How are these services-considered essential, but largely taken for granted- possible in such a complex structure? What does it really take to sustain human life at such enormous heights?
Exploring the interconnected systems that make life livable in the sky is the task of Kate Ascher's stunningly illustrated The Heights: Anatomy of a Skyscraper. Ascher examines skyscrapers from around the world to learn how these incredible structures operate. Just how do skyscrapers sway in the wind, and why exactly is that a good idea? How can a modern elevator be as fast as an airplane? Why are skyscrapers in Asia safer than those in the United States? Have new safeguards been designed to protect skyscrapers from terrorism?
What happens when the power goes out in a building so tall? Why are all modern skyscrapers seemingly made of glass, and how can that be safe? How do skyscrapers age, and how can they be maintained over decades of habitation? No detail is too small, no difficulty too big to escape Ascher's encyclopedic eye.
Along the way, The Heights introduces the reader to every type of person involved in designing, building, and maintaining a skyscraper: the designers who calculate how weight and weather will affect their structures, the workers who dig the foundations and raise the lightning rods, the crews who clean the windows and maintain the air ducts, and the firefighters-whose special equipment allows blazes to be fought at unprecedented heights.
More than a technical survey, Ascher's work is a triumphant ode to the most monumental aspect of modern civilization. Saturated with vivid illustrations and unforgettable anecdotes, The Heights is the ultimate guide to the way things work in the skyscraper.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published November 10, 2011
14 people are currently reading
896 people want to read
About the author
Kate Ascher
6 books42 followersKate Ascher is an author and was executive vice president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation. Her 2005 book, The Works: Anatomy of a City, a textual and graphic exploration of how the complicated and often overlapping infrastructure of a modern city works, garnered wide discussion and praise when it was published. She left the NYCEDC in 2007 for Vornado Realty Trust. She formerly held positions with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and in corporate finance.
Ascher received her M.Sc. and Ph.D. in government from the London School of Economics and her B.A. in political science from Brown University.
(from Wikipedia)
Ascher received her M.Sc. and Ph.D. in government from the London School of Economics and her B.A. in political science from Brown University.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
May 6, 2014
I have read some wonderfully detailed, analytical reviews of this book by people who really know their stuff. Thankfully, I'm not one of them so I won't have to beat myself up for not delving into the minute details of what the books is choosing to highlight or leave out. I'm not bogged down with a vast store of foreknowledge on the subjects of skyscrapers, engineering, architecture, or any of the stuff I was so horrible at (it all required math skills way above my level) in college. Instead this will be a rather short, but unapologetic positive review.
Using lots of pictures and graphics, thank goodness, the author does a pretty good job of giving a brief history of they skyscraper and it's genesis Pretty quickly after that the author quickly moves into the science and the construction of the tallest building to ever see the light of day. She gives pretty interesting detailed information on all the small stuff that I never thought about before. How do you keep the wind from blowing a building over? How do all the pipes needed to carry water and sewage get built into the core of the building? How do engineers take settlement of the building into the plans? I found it to be a rather informative read that I think I and my son will look into for years to come.
Using lots of pictures and graphics, thank goodness, the author does a pretty good job of giving a brief history of they skyscraper and it's genesis Pretty quickly after that the author quickly moves into the science and the construction of the tallest building to ever see the light of day. She gives pretty interesting detailed information on all the small stuff that I never thought about before. How do you keep the wind from blowing a building over? How do all the pipes needed to carry water and sewage get built into the core of the building? How do engineers take settlement of the building into the plans? I found it to be a rather informative read that I think I and my son will look into for years to come.
June 21, 2021
Full review at: https://www.everydayiwritethebookblog...
In The Heights, Ascher breaks down the many components of skyscrapers – design, construction, electricity, water, safety, elevators and much more – and explains how they work and how they have evolved over time in the world’s tall buildings. Ascher conveys her subject matter through a combination of infographics, drawings and text, which makes complicated content digestible. She also explains how innovation has made buildings more efficient, safer and greener over time. If you’ve ever looked at a tall building and wondered how clean water gets to the top floors (and dirty water gets out!), or thought about how elevators know which floors to stop on, or how all those windows get cleaned, then this is the book for you.
I think I liked The Works a little better because it covered wider ground than The Heights, literally and figuratively, but The Heights is still really interesting. It came out 10 years ago and is already a bit outdated, given the pace of change in the world, but I still learned quite a bit. The Heights was my most recent blow dry book, which means I read only a few pages a day. This was a good pace for an informative, non-fiction, illustration-rich book like The Heights.
In The Heights, Ascher breaks down the many components of skyscrapers – design, construction, electricity, water, safety, elevators and much more – and explains how they work and how they have evolved over time in the world’s tall buildings. Ascher conveys her subject matter through a combination of infographics, drawings and text, which makes complicated content digestible. She also explains how innovation has made buildings more efficient, safer and greener over time. If you’ve ever looked at a tall building and wondered how clean water gets to the top floors (and dirty water gets out!), or thought about how elevators know which floors to stop on, or how all those windows get cleaned, then this is the book for you.
I think I liked The Works a little better because it covered wider ground than The Heights, literally and figuratively, but The Heights is still really interesting. It came out 10 years ago and is already a bit outdated, given the pace of change in the world, but I still learned quite a bit. The Heights was my most recent blow dry book, which means I read only a few pages a day. This was a good pace for an informative, non-fiction, illustration-rich book like The Heights.
September 13, 2023
This is a fascinating book on the history, construction, and economics of skyscrapers. This a a great book for conversation, learning, and insight into the buildings we see each day.
May 2, 2020
This is a book that suffers from what one might call "graphics fatigue". Every page is invested heavily with wonderful, colorful images illustrating the author's descriptions. Indeed, I suspect, as it was for me, that this is a selling point.
Alas, it is also part of the problem. So much real estate - no pun intended - is given over to the illustrations that important technical context is too often omitted. Page after page I found my appetite whetted for how some fascinating part of skyscrapers operates, only to be stymied by unexplained technical jargon with too little context to be sufficiently sussed out. The end result is a wonderfully illustrated picture book that fails its primary educational goal.
I wanted to learn. Instead, I got a veneer of knowledge covering no substance.
Alas, it is also part of the problem. So much real estate - no pun intended - is given over to the illustrations that important technical context is too often omitted. Page after page I found my appetite whetted for how some fascinating part of skyscrapers operates, only to be stymied by unexplained technical jargon with too little context to be sufficiently sussed out. The end result is a wonderfully illustrated picture book that fails its primary educational goal.
I wanted to learn. Instead, I got a veneer of knowledge covering no substance.
June 22, 2024
Kate Ascher's The Heights is a brilliant introduction to skyscrapers. Its 14 chapters are organised into 5 sections:
Section 1 covers the history of skyscrapers from when they first appeared in Chicago and New York in the late 1880s to the present day. Indeed, buildings today are so tall that we need another term - supertall buildings - to distinguish those over 300m in height. Originating as "cathedrals of commerce", many skyscrapers today are mixed use "vertical cities", incorporating residential, retail and commercial uses under one roof.
Section 2 covers what it takes to build a skyscraper: design considerations (not just aesthetic considerations, but also structural ones, wind load, zoning, even politics); the foundations; the skin; the actual construction process. The chapter on Design explained that before any skyscraper is built, a developer's architect will complete a stacking diagram which identifies the amount of floor area on each floor and its intended use. For mixed use skyscrapers, hotel and residential uses are placed at the top as it not only allows the developer to command better rental rates and sales prices but also makes sense from the practical standpoint that residential and hotel users place less demands on elevator systems and consumer less space on the lower floors for elevator shafts. The chapter on Foundations describes what it takes to build the foundation of a skyscraper - from underpinning and blasting, to sheeting and bracing, and the difference between caissons and piles. In Skin, we learn about the different curtain wall systems and materials and how they deal with the issues of keeping water and noise out, and managing heat and light. (Fun fact: The level of noise penetration in a city rarely decreases with height; it can be noisier at the tops of some skyscrapers than at the bottom - not only because of the mechanical systems within the skyscraper but also because of the canyoning of street noise.) And thanks to the chapter on Construction, I finally understand how a tower crane is erected and dismantled.
Section 3 covers all the aspects of what it takes to make a skyscraper habitable - elevators; power, air and water supplies; and communications. The chapter on elevators described not only how elevators work (which I was somewhat familiar with, having read a book on Elisha Otis to the kids previously), but also the considerations beyond the number, size and layout of elevators for commercial and residential towers. It was fascinating to learn that in a commercial building, floor-to-floor heights are higher compared to residential buildings and elevators therefore have to travel farther to service the same number of floors. Given the density of use, things like trading floors are located on lower floors to place less demand on the elevator system while less densely populated executive offices and law firms can be located on upper floors. And how fascinating that high speed elevators travel up significantly faster than they do down because changes in air pressure between the inner ear and the external environment are less troubling on the ascent than they are on descent, and that the elevators at Taipei 101 gradually depressurize the cabins when descending!
Section 4 covers what it takes to keep a skyscraper going for as long as possible - life safety (e.g. fire safety, evacuation, fire resisantance and terror protection in the event of bombs); maintenance; and sustainability.
The final Section 5 covers the future - what sort of skyscrapers can we expect in the future? Will they be even taller and surpass the 828m Burj Khalifa? How green will they be, what sort of forms will they take and where will these towers rise? Ascher observes that:
"If historically it was the street or the square where the public met to socialise, today it is increasingly the public portions of mixed-use complexes that act as meeting points for residents, office workers, shoppers and tourists. Not all attempts at social mixing depend on transient visitors, and not all happen at or near ground level. Internal sky courts are increasingly appearing on buildings in Asia, driven primarily by the requirement for refuge floors….Some commentators see these sky courts as a vehicle of social integration, akin to the city's historic courtyards or the commercial arcades of the nineteenth century - though just how much social mixing will ever occur in private spaces high up in the sky is unclear
….How well the mixed use tower of today meets the criteria Jane Jacobs established for a diverse and lively neighbourhood is one standard by which we can measure it. Jacobs would have liked the way the combination of residents and businesses operates around the clock but might have bemoaned the fact that users are not always using common facilities. And she would have approved of the density that a mixed-use skyscraper brings. But she would likely have worried about the homogeneity of class and economic status that an all-new building imposes: without subsidies or regulation, it is unlikely to feature low-rent units that bring diversity or both commerce and people."
What I loved about The Heights is that it's such a comprehensive Skyscraper 101, covering not only the history of skyscrapers and prominent examples of the form (as most books on the subject do), but also covered what it takes to build and maintain a skyscraper. In the chapter on construction for instance, we even learn about all the different construction vehicles that can be found at the construction site for a skyscraper and the different constructions workers and the roles they play. It's one of those books that after reading it, when encountering a skyscraper, you can't help but take a closer (and hopefully more informed) look at the structure and see the different decisions that went behind its construction and fitting out. Absolutely brilliant 5 star read.
Section 1 covers the history of skyscrapers from when they first appeared in Chicago and New York in the late 1880s to the present day. Indeed, buildings today are so tall that we need another term - supertall buildings - to distinguish those over 300m in height. Originating as "cathedrals of commerce", many skyscrapers today are mixed use "vertical cities", incorporating residential, retail and commercial uses under one roof.
Section 2 covers what it takes to build a skyscraper: design considerations (not just aesthetic considerations, but also structural ones, wind load, zoning, even politics); the foundations; the skin; the actual construction process. The chapter on Design explained that before any skyscraper is built, a developer's architect will complete a stacking diagram which identifies the amount of floor area on each floor and its intended use. For mixed use skyscrapers, hotel and residential uses are placed at the top as it not only allows the developer to command better rental rates and sales prices but also makes sense from the practical standpoint that residential and hotel users place less demands on elevator systems and consumer less space on the lower floors for elevator shafts. The chapter on Foundations describes what it takes to build the foundation of a skyscraper - from underpinning and blasting, to sheeting and bracing, and the difference between caissons and piles. In Skin, we learn about the different curtain wall systems and materials and how they deal with the issues of keeping water and noise out, and managing heat and light. (Fun fact: The level of noise penetration in a city rarely decreases with height; it can be noisier at the tops of some skyscrapers than at the bottom - not only because of the mechanical systems within the skyscraper but also because of the canyoning of street noise.) And thanks to the chapter on Construction, I finally understand how a tower crane is erected and dismantled.
Section 3 covers all the aspects of what it takes to make a skyscraper habitable - elevators; power, air and water supplies; and communications. The chapter on elevators described not only how elevators work (which I was somewhat familiar with, having read a book on Elisha Otis to the kids previously), but also the considerations beyond the number, size and layout of elevators for commercial and residential towers. It was fascinating to learn that in a commercial building, floor-to-floor heights are higher compared to residential buildings and elevators therefore have to travel farther to service the same number of floors. Given the density of use, things like trading floors are located on lower floors to place less demand on the elevator system while less densely populated executive offices and law firms can be located on upper floors. And how fascinating that high speed elevators travel up significantly faster than they do down because changes in air pressure between the inner ear and the external environment are less troubling on the ascent than they are on descent, and that the elevators at Taipei 101 gradually depressurize the cabins when descending!
Section 4 covers what it takes to keep a skyscraper going for as long as possible - life safety (e.g. fire safety, evacuation, fire resisantance and terror protection in the event of bombs); maintenance; and sustainability.
The final Section 5 covers the future - what sort of skyscrapers can we expect in the future? Will they be even taller and surpass the 828m Burj Khalifa? How green will they be, what sort of forms will they take and where will these towers rise? Ascher observes that:
"If historically it was the street or the square where the public met to socialise, today it is increasingly the public portions of mixed-use complexes that act as meeting points for residents, office workers, shoppers and tourists. Not all attempts at social mixing depend on transient visitors, and not all happen at or near ground level. Internal sky courts are increasingly appearing on buildings in Asia, driven primarily by the requirement for refuge floors….Some commentators see these sky courts as a vehicle of social integration, akin to the city's historic courtyards or the commercial arcades of the nineteenth century - though just how much social mixing will ever occur in private spaces high up in the sky is unclear
….How well the mixed use tower of today meets the criteria Jane Jacobs established for a diverse and lively neighbourhood is one standard by which we can measure it. Jacobs would have liked the way the combination of residents and businesses operates around the clock but might have bemoaned the fact that users are not always using common facilities. And she would have approved of the density that a mixed-use skyscraper brings. But she would likely have worried about the homogeneity of class and economic status that an all-new building imposes: without subsidies or regulation, it is unlikely to feature low-rent units that bring diversity or both commerce and people."
What I loved about The Heights is that it's such a comprehensive Skyscraper 101, covering not only the history of skyscrapers and prominent examples of the form (as most books on the subject do), but also covered what it takes to build and maintain a skyscraper. In the chapter on construction for instance, we even learn about all the different construction vehicles that can be found at the construction site for a skyscraper and the different constructions workers and the roles they play. It's one of those books that after reading it, when encountering a skyscraper, you can't help but take a closer (and hopefully more informed) look at the structure and see the different decisions that went behind its construction and fitting out. Absolutely brilliant 5 star read.
April 22, 2019
A surprisingly thick book full of pictures (not photographs but drawings and diagrams) about the history and anatomy of skyscrapers. The book went a little too far in depth for my tastes; it's not really a picture book for kids but more for aspiring architects. The author went way in depth about anything and everything skyscraper including, but not limited to: air ventilation, famous architects in skyscraper design, plumbing water lines, elevators, types of building construction, cranes, construction workers, Green architecture, employees, and fire safety. There was even a small section about skyscrapers of the future which included a cemetery 32 floors up; I'm still not sure how that would work.
A lot of this book was too technical for me which is why I am only giving this book four stars. But it was interesting and informative. I feel like this is just about a how-to manual for building a skyscraper.
A lot of this book was too technical for me which is why I am only giving this book four stars. But it was interesting and informative. I feel like this is just about a how-to manual for building a skyscraper.
January 7, 2026
Not bad, but not brilliant. The book gives a pretty good overview of different aspects of building and running a skyscraper, also those that are not obvious. Illustrations are a plus. However, the structure is average, things aren’t described in a planned way. If you start the book without knowing what a “setback” means in the architecture lingo, the author won’t give you a helping hand – and there are many places where jargon is used. Some images fail to explain the topic they cover. There are factual errors, for example contrary to the book, Moscow does not use steam to heat buildings. The author’s incapability of discussing things outside of US is irritating. There are silly typos (“Ghangzhou”!) I did not expect from Penguin House. Fortunately, the book length is probably just right.
September 21, 2023
Full disclosure, I only skimmed this book - it turns out I'm not interested enough in the topic to spend this long reading about it. But that's far from a criticism of the book itself. The illustrations are gorgeous and well-designed, the text is well written and thoughtful, and the subject matter is covered in lavish detail. The right audience would spend hours poring over every detail. It'd also make a gorgeous and engaging coffee table book to occasionally browse through.
February 28, 2023
What a fantastic book. It covers all aspects of skyscrapers, from construction to maintenance. The pictures are excellent and plenty of examples too. The only drawback is the book was published in 2011 and this is a fast-changing field, so it may need to be revised in a few years.
December 10, 2023
Great illustrations on various topics but this book was too dense for me. Too much text that is better suited for engineers, architects, or people interested in STEM. I ended up just glazing over pages. Clearly written by a subject matter expert, but not meant for a layperson like me.
July 22, 2018
Enjoyable info
700-799-arts-rec
January 17, 2020720
July 25, 2022
This book is an excellent crash-course in how the skyscrapers are made. It answered many of the questions I had had about them. Nicely pictured and very readable.
July 5, 2020
This book does exactly what I hoped it would do, and I dearly want to find more books like it.
Do I know anything about skyscrapers? Nope.
Do I have the spare time or energy to actually take a class on architecture or read technical books? Sadly, no.
But, am I deeply curious about this giant piece of modern civilization? Absolutely.
And this book does a fantastic job satisfying that curiosity, going beyond the surface level, and answering questions I would have never thought to ask and never thought to google. But, while giving some technical detail, it never goes beyond my level of understanding as a complete outsider.
I love works of non-fiction that provide a new perspective on piece of everyday life, and this book does exactly that. I definitely won't remember all of the detail here, but from now on I will notice, every-time I see a skyscraper, to look for the floors without windows and remember that they're probably mechanical floors. I will remember that elevators (and time spent in them) are one of things that majorly limit a skyscraper's height. I will remember that some skyscrapers have giant pools of water at the top, to help counteract swaying.
Seriously, this book is fantastic. How do I find more books like this?
Do I know anything about skyscrapers? Nope.
Do I have the spare time or energy to actually take a class on architecture or read technical books? Sadly, no.
But, am I deeply curious about this giant piece of modern civilization? Absolutely.
And this book does a fantastic job satisfying that curiosity, going beyond the surface level, and answering questions I would have never thought to ask and never thought to google. But, while giving some technical detail, it never goes beyond my level of understanding as a complete outsider.
I love works of non-fiction that provide a new perspective on piece of everyday life, and this book does exactly that. I definitely won't remember all of the detail here, but from now on I will notice, every-time I see a skyscraper, to look for the floors without windows and remember that they're probably mechanical floors. I will remember that elevators (and time spent in them) are one of things that majorly limit a skyscraper's height. I will remember that some skyscrapers have giant pools of water at the top, to help counteract swaying.
Seriously, this book is fantastic. How do I find more books like this?
December 1, 2011
The Heights is a coffee table sized book that is packed full of information about the history, design, construction, maintenance, and future of the skyscraper. It is full of great pictures and graphics. I thought the graphics were particularly well done and a wonderful way for a person to really understand what is going on in the text of the book. From showing how test boring is performed by a geotechnical engineer to how a wind tunnel works, the graphics were fantastic. The graphics are so amazing that my two sons (5 & 3) are also intrigued with this book. They like to flip through and have us read to them about the graphics that particularly intrigue them such as fire safety and construction of the skyscraper. My favorite graphic was actually at the beginning of the book which showed the steady progression of the height of skyscrapers over the past 150 years.
Beyond the excellent graphics, Ascher has a gift of being able to take quite complex topics and write them in a way that is accurate, but easily relatable to anyone.
As an engineer, I was very pleased to see that Ms. Asher pointed out that the design and construction of a skyscraper is very much a team effort. Too often architects end up with all of the glory, while the engineers are left in the shade.
Overall, The Heights was an excellent book about a fascinating topic. The graphics and explanations of the design, construction, and workings of the modern marvel of the skyscrapers are perfect. The Heights is not only technically accurate, but written in a way that anyone with an interest can understand from my three-year old son to his structural engineer father.
My complete review can be found at: http://lauragerold.blogspot.com/2011/...
Beyond the excellent graphics, Ascher has a gift of being able to take quite complex topics and write them in a way that is accurate, but easily relatable to anyone.
As an engineer, I was very pleased to see that Ms. Asher pointed out that the design and construction of a skyscraper is very much a team effort. Too often architects end up with all of the glory, while the engineers are left in the shade.
Overall, The Heights was an excellent book about a fascinating topic. The graphics and explanations of the design, construction, and workings of the modern marvel of the skyscrapers are perfect. The Heights is not only technically accurate, but written in a way that anyone with an interest can understand from my three-year old son to his structural engineer father.
My complete review can be found at: http://lauragerold.blogspot.com/2011/...
August 10, 2013
This book is effectively a very big and comprehensive children's book in the best sense, every page covered with informative pictures, frequently diagrams with cutaways, and every two to four pages (and thus one or two spreads) covering a section onto itself. It also incorporated frequent informative infographics, one of the most notable being a three spread chart of the largest skyscrapers over time, drawn to scale, with text describing the history of skyscrapers above. Covering history, construction, services, maintenance, and the future, it gives a start-to-finish, top-to-bottom, 24 hour picture of the skyscraper. It's only lack in this regard is that it did not talk about the end of a skyscraper's life, likely because there have been very few productive disassemblies, all consisting so far of demolition or disaster. Of particular interest is it's discussion of sustainability, maintaining both an optimistic view and an honest assessment of the current track record of success. Overall, the real star of this book is its pictures, richly making clear every aspect of the skyscraper, supported by a continuous thread of workmanlike text like rebar through concrete.
November 27, 2017
I've been looking forward to reading this one for a long time. I really enjoyed Kate Ascher's book "The Works: Anatomy of a City" and I was hoping for more of the same. While this one was similar, it just wasn't as captivating as the other. It may be because I have worked in construction before, but a lot of this was already familiar to me, and therefore, the book was not as good as I was hoping for.
I love the illustrations in Ascher's books. They are some of the most detailed, yet simple, visuals I have ever seen. In a commercial real estate development class I recently completed, the professor regularly used illustrations from Ascher's book to explain building systems and components.
Probably the most interesting page of the book is page 33, where it shows how much space the uses in a 1.3 million square foot skyscraper would take up if spread out suburban style. While the skyscraper takes up 2/3 of one city block, the uses would take up 21 full blocks in a suburban setting. Very interesting stuff, and very well presented.
I love the illustrations in Ascher's books. They are some of the most detailed, yet simple, visuals I have ever seen. In a commercial real estate development class I recently completed, the professor regularly used illustrations from Ascher's book to explain building systems and components.
Probably the most interesting page of the book is page 33, where it shows how much space the uses in a 1.3 million square foot skyscraper would take up if spread out suburban style. While the skyscraper takes up 2/3 of one city block, the uses would take up 21 full blocks in a suburban setting. Very interesting stuff, and very well presented.
June 23, 2015
The Heights: Anatomy of a Skyscraper is an impressively well-rounded and insightful look at the history and the future of skyscrapers. Some technical chapters were a little dry, but the amount of data is impressive and it's presented well with interesting graphics and timelines. I really liked the history section starting the book and the sustainability section near the end. To me, the vast majority of the glass curtain boxes of the mid 20th century, at the time cutting edge, were unfortunate and ugly both ascetically and for poorer thermal performance and energy efficiency and a lack of natural ventilation. It's good to see modern design teams trying to incorporate natural lighting and ventilation as well as innovative sustainable building techniques.
March 29, 2012
Skyscrapers have always fascinated me and this book with it's many illustrations showed me what is involved in the construction of these tall buildings. First it gives us a history of the skyscraper, then it describes the design elements from the concrete, structural steel, foundations, mechanical and electrical systems including elevators as well as the economics dictating the design and occupancy. There are chapters about safety, fire detection and firefighting high in the sky, window cleaning and other maintenance requirements. There is a lot involved in the design of these tall buildings and the author does a wonderful job of educating the reader while keeping it interesting.
March 17, 2016
Modern skyscraper is not just a mere building, it is a city by itself. From housing place, office and retail space, to parks and amenities, a typical skyscraper houses those facilities.
The Heights tells us how a skyscraper works, starting from history of skyscrapers, design stage, construction period, and even to living and maintenance phase. Each phase is explained as thoroughly as possible, complete with great illustrations in almost every page.
The Heights gives a very clear picture of how a skyscraper works. A great read for those who love skyscrapers and how buildings work in general.
The Heights tells us how a skyscraper works, starting from history of skyscrapers, design stage, construction period, and even to living and maintenance phase. Each phase is explained as thoroughly as possible, complete with great illustrations in almost every page.
The Heights gives a very clear picture of how a skyscraper works. A great read for those who love skyscrapers and how buildings work in general.
August 9, 2012
a very well crafted overview of all the systems that are in play to ensure that skyscrapers are adequately designed, built and maintained.
amazing visuals & graphics bring the text to life while a brief history and vision for the future round out the technical data with an important sociological look towards the topic.
like "The Works" it was a captivating read and one that i would encourage urban dwellers to take a read through to more fully appreciate the environs they find themselves in - be it a handful of stories tall or a Super Tall skyscraper.
amazing visuals & graphics bring the text to life while a brief history and vision for the future round out the technical data with an important sociological look towards the topic.
like "The Works" it was a captivating read and one that i would encourage urban dwellers to take a read through to more fully appreciate the environs they find themselves in - be it a handful of stories tall or a Super Tall skyscraper.
December 20, 2015
While the Heights is not nearly as captivating as Anatomy of a City, Kate Ascher's illustrations and comprehensive research still shine through. The Heights is a beautiful book that covers not only skyscrapers, but really how a building functions. Some parts I found to be quite repetitive, like in the middle of the book, when information in the overview paragraphs is repeated in the image captions. Sometimes it feels like her editors had her fill more pages to make the book longer, without really adding much value. Overall, it was interesting, but not as fun to read as Anatomy of a City.
December 5, 2011
Skyscrapers are not just tall piles of steel, concrete and glass as The Heights make abundantly clear. They are sophisticated machines designed to meet the vast and varied needs of their myriad occupants and visitors. This book is a clear and visually interesting history of skyscrapers, from their conception and design through the science and engineering of their many parts and systems. It will greatly enhance your appreciation and understanding of a tall building.
December 1, 2011
This book appealed to two of my repressed personas - engineer and graphic designer. It takes on all aspects of the design, construction, and function of super tall buildings with cool visuals and easy-to-understand writing. I was amazed by something every couple pages.
November 9, 2011
I mostly skimmed this, stopping to read the captions on interesting pictures. I especially liked the section about elevator safety. I've always been curious about what prevents us from falling to our deaths in elevators.
January 2, 2012
This book explained a lot of things about skyscrapers that I didn't even know as an adult. I think that as a kid this would have been the most fascinating book possible. It made me feel like a kid, I kept reading parts and wanting to tell them to someone because they were so fascinating.
January 29, 2013
A beautifully illustrated book filled with fascinating details on the history, planning and operation of skyscrapers and modern buildings.
I now have a better idea on how the 22 story apartment building I live in operates, thanks to this stellar book.
I now have a better idea on how the 22 story apartment building I live in operates, thanks to this stellar book.
April 27, 2014
Fascinating book about all the complexities that go into designing, building and maintaining skyscrapers. Part a history lesson but also part of an examination of how we currently live and, increasingly, will live in the future.
July 23, 2015
An amazing and comprehensive overview of every part of Skyscrapers: elevators, cleaning, structural support, wind effects, politics and more. I found myself spending minutes per page just to take it all in
Want to read
December 3, 2011NPR interview, sounds like Bob or henry would enjoy
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