Scrapers: A Visual Guide to Extraordinary Buildings

by Zack Scott

With this exquisite illustrative masterpiece, Zack Scott explores in stunning detail the majestic constructions that humans have created on the surface of our own planet.

This is SCRAPERS , a visual history of man's endeavours to reach higher and higher, through the construction of mind-blowing new buildings.

Zack Scott takes us on an illustrative journey from humankind's first attempts to touch the sky with their creations, to the modern masterpieces of architecture and engineering standing proudly across the globe.

From Stonehenge to the Burj Khalifa; the Taj Mahal to the Shard, Zack shares the little-known facts and fascinating human stories behind the most incredible buildings in the world.

In gorgeous graphic style, SCRAPERS opens our eyes - and our minds - to these true marvels of human architecture.

Genres: Architecture, Nonfiction

256 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 6, 2018

About the author

One sunny day, a stingray bit Zack while he was snorkeling. You might be asking yourself, ‘Hey do stingrays even have teeth?’ Well according to the scientists at Wikipedia, stingrays do indeed have teeth. Now this was no serious bite wound, looked more like a hickey, a hickey on his arm, a hickey from a stingray.

Zack has also written a few stories.

Reviews

[Keen Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars!

Starting off with the likes of Stonehenge and the Pyramids, (the latter remained the tallest known structure in the world for around 3’800 years, until it was surpassed by Lincoln Cathedral). This book traces the origins of the world’s largest and most significant structures. We then focus on The Parthenon, the structure that typifies the Greek style more than any other, and one which would become the most influential throughout history.

We learn that the Pagoda of Fogong temple in China, was built in 1056, and yet this wooden building is still standing, around a millennium later. Scott tells us that not a single nail was used to piece it together, instead it is linked by elaborate variations on the mortise and tenon joints, known as dougong, which help spread the load into smaller areas. Apparently there are 54 variants of this joint within the structure. We see that precision, skill and creativity and above all the mystery of these ancient structures gives them an appealing allure which only grows in time.

I for one had certainly never heard of the Ditherington flax mill, in Shrewsbury, which is considered by many to be the “grandfather of skyscrapers”. Owing to varying opinions regarding the specific definition of a skyscraper, there still exists some debate as to what was the first example, but there is certainly no doubt as to the place where they first took root and flourished. The roots of what we recognise as skyscrapers began in the closing decades of the Nineteenth Century in Chicago, after the great fire of 1871 had destroyed thousands of buildings, as well as killing around 300 people. This catastrophe ensured that the attitude towards timber structures had shifted dramatically.

Scott documents how New York was the next major city to adopt the idea of the skyscraper and by the opening decade of the 20th Century it had gotten a real taste for these buildings. We also see how it took a while longer before Europe and other regions of the world would embrace the skyscraper culture, but once they did there was no looking back. As we get towards the closing decades of the 20th Century, we are invited into a world of glass-clad megaliths and gleaming supertalls with obscene vanity height.

Of course today it is a race to reach the ridiculous as much as it is to the top. The powerful and moneyed elite have almost disregarded taste and aesthetics altogether in favour of height, with buildings stretching further and further up into the atmosphere, becoming little more than phallocentric parodies, which embody excess and self-indulgence as much as technical advancement.

Scott’s background is in graphic design and it shows. This was written with clarity, concision and it is devoid of any pretentiousness. The layout was clean, tight and informative without overloading the reader with unnecessary verbiage. The detail and intricacies are explained without needless flourishes, and overall this touches on the icons as well as some of the lesser known structures to provide a deep, broad and balanced account of skyscrapers.

[isaac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evidently well researched with stunning graphical design, however, I find that some of the comparisons drawn between building are arbitrary, and it does not give as much historical context for each building as I would like, focusing more on interesting "Fun Facts"

[Shallowreader VaVeros · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect amount of structural detail and photographs of skyscrapers around the world for the lay person who wants more details than just a coffee table book. I really enjoyed this book.

[Book Grocer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Purchase Scrapers here for just $15!

Taking us on a journey from the most well-known buildings to amazing skyscrapers that I can't believe I'd never heard of, Scrapers, will satisfy anyone with a love of architecture. A really lovely book.

Alicia - The Book Grocer