Ego builing

摘要

The blurb on the back of this interesting book states that architecture has a unique place in the wielding of authority and goes on: 'From Blair to Mitterrand, from Hitler to Stalin to Saddam Hussein, architecture has become an end in itself as well as a means to an end.' This study examines the works and the megalomania of sundry world leaders - some of them tyrants - and some of the leading architects of the last century or so. It is odd, though, that Sudjic picked on Blair, possibly because of his distaste for the Millennium Dome (above left), although he points out that it is actually a tent.