Kyle Dugdale Libri

Architecture after God A vivid retelling of the biblical story of Babel leads from the contested site of Babylon to the soaring towers of the modern metropolis, and sets the bright hopes of early modernism against the shadows of gathering war. Dealing in structural metaphor, utopian aspiration, and geopolitical ambition, Dugdale exposes the inexorable architectural implications of the event described by Nietzsche as the death of God. The Exploring Architecture series makes architectural scholarship accessible, introduces the latest research methods, and covers a wide range of periods, regions, and topics. Critical reappraisal of early modernism Based on the fable The Emperor and the Architect (1924) by Uriel Birnbaum New volume in the Exploring Architecture series

The Tower of Babel is known for its absence. A landmark of architectural self-doubt, it has survived not as a physical object but through its representation in text and image. Over the last century, the Tower has rematerialized in an enigmatic array of projects that demands reassessment. 0From Robert Koldewey?s excavations in Mesopotamia, to full-scale reassemblies in Berlin, surrogate reconstructions by Saddam Hussein, and mock ruins built in upstate New York for the US Department of Defense, Dugdale plots this story against the background of recent conflict in Iraq, presenting Babel as a vital challenge to the politics of architecture?s material presence