Amazing Architecture: a Spotter's Guide

by Lonely Planet

The next in our Spotter's Guide series reveals 120 of the world's great human constructions and where to find them, from cloud-piercing skyscrapers and ancient sites to classic buildings and contemporary designs. Packed with facts, maps and photos, it's a fun and fascinating introduction to the sublime, the strange and everything in between.

When we travel it's often to see a building - the Taj Mahal, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Eiffel Tower. They're things of beauty, symbols of their age and emblems of human endeavour. Sometimes, buildings are the reason we decide to go somewhere; think of an icon such as Bilbao's Guggenheim and Cambodia's Angkor Wat temple complex. Other times, buildings help make a visit more enriching and rewarding, like discovering the old district of Pelourinho in Salvador, Brazil and the majestic Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey.

Amazing Architecture: A Spotter's Guide is perfect for anyone interested in learning about many of the world's greatest architectural sites. Each entry includes a brief introduction, who designed it and when it was built, plus a map to help you plan a visit.

Famous, weird and wonderful places include:

Bran Castle in Transylvania, Romania
The Crooked House in Sopot, Poland
Shah Mosque in Esfahan, Iran
Skara Brae in Orkney, Scotland
Towers of San Gimignano, Italy
Roman Baths in Bath, UK
Ayutthaya temple complex, Thailand
The Winter Palace, St Petersburg, Russia
Millau Viaduct, southern France
Chrysler Building, New York, USA
Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies
The mud-made Agadez Mosque, Niger

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Architecture, Art

128 pages, Paperback

First published April 7, 2018

About the author

OUR STORY
A beat-up old car, a few dollars in the pocket and a sense of adventure. In 1972 that’s all Tony and Maureen Wheeler needed for the trip of a lifetime – across Europe and Asia overland to Australia. It took several months, and at the end – broke but inspired – they sat at their kitchen table writing and stapling together their first travel guide, Across Asia on the Cheap. Within a week they’d sold 1500 copies and Lonely Planet was born. One hundred million guidebooks later, Lonely Planet is the world’s leading travel guide publisher with content to almost every destination on the planet.

Reviews

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great armchair travel book.

[Vinayak Hegde · Rating 2 out of 5]

An okayish guide to beautiful architecture around the world. The sprinkling of choice of architecture is poor and there are notable misses from Asia (such as Shinto shrine and Torii in Japan), Middle East (such as Amman or desert forts in Jordan), Africa (such rock churches of Lalibela) and Latin America (such as Peru). Not that it does a good job at covering modern architecture as well Many marginal buildings from the USA are included inspite of many notable buildings elsewhere.

The short descriptions and many of the pictures leave a lot to be desired. Even pictures of many known beautiful architectures such as Eiffel tower and Alhambra in Spain are pretty bland.

[Anna R · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of Lonely Planet's pictorial books (as distinct from the guidebooks) I have been buying in paper and electronic format, as a substitute for real travel (for now...). An inexpensive paperback, with e-book also available.
Disappointed that the Golden Gate Bridge is not featured! But also very disappointed about a glaring error - a (somewhat confused) description of the Burj al-Arab hotel in Dubai is accompanied by a photo of the Burj Khalifa sky scraper (initially known as Burj Dubai)!! Hence only 3 stars from me - can't believe that Lonely Planet did not spot the error ...and it is a Spotter's Guide.

[Hugo Demets · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dit was een prachtig "zomaar"-cadeautje van mijn partner. Ruimer en in een toegankelijkere tekst dan "The Grand Tour" van Harry Seidler, die ik eerder deze maand las, is dit een boekje dat ik op één dag graag las en bekeek. Vooral de bredere selectie, met ook voldoende aandacht voor traditionele Afrikaanse en Aziatische architectuur, maakte het boekje van Lonely Planet een zalige architectuurreisgids die je nieuwsgierig maakt om alle plaatsen in deze gids te bezoeken.

[Egan Reeve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm such a sucker for lonely planet books, they always give me major wanderlust which isn't ideal, but also reading them helps me sort of live through them, and not want to travel so much.

This one was so much fun, great pictures, sometimes not as much explanation as I'd have liked, that's my only criticism. However, it is a pocket guide, so this isn't surprising.

Would reccomend

[Lenore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not your usual photos of well known spots (although some are). The location, the history and various facts of interest are noted with the photos NOT at the end of the volume which always warms my heart and saves me the trouble of paging back and forth.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of places I still need to visit !! Seen 7 of the 120 in the book.

[Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A neat little guide from Lonely Planet. It includes the shoe house in Pennsylvanian and the basket house in Ohio as well as the Taj Mahal. A quick rewarding compact book.

[Vincenzo G. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un buon elenco da tener presente per i prossimi viaggi. Alcuni posti non li conoscevo, quindi la lettura è stata piuttosto interessante.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect coffee table book with very interesting mostly unheard of picks from around the world

[Ming's fantasy myth library · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 stars
not much information and too few pictures

[Ross Picton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some factual errors, wrong images used and generally poor writing.

[Shawn Persinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pithy commentaries on wonderful, diverse buildings. Though I still can't figure out logic behind the order.