October 17, 2005
The controlled reduction of buildings to rubble is "the black art of our time," writes Byles. In this colorful thematic history of the demolition trade (a subject he was pursuing, it should be said, before the destruction of the Twin Towers), he rightfully calls Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, "the patron saint of creative destruction." Only in the 1910s did the simple need to topple skyscrapers emerge as a fact of urban renewal. Before 1900, demolition was only sporadically used to prevent the spread of fire, and was largely an inefficient matter of pulling buildings down, not exploding or imploding them. Over time, the dangers of wrecking balls led to an increased emphasis on hydraulics and contained explosives. Today, the ostentatious annihilation of gargantuan stadia and casinos draws awestruck throngs. Byles examines this history, looking at the "clear-cutting of entire neighborhoods" in Paris by Baron Haussmann ("who called himself 'artist-demolitionist' "), the "sorry end" of New York's original, monumental Pennsylvania Station (and its impact on the urban preservation movement) and the destruction of the Dunes Hotel in Las Vegas. With brio, Byles ably and pungently excavates the shadowy crannies of this underappreciated art, summarized by one practitioner as "a little dynamite, judiciously placed." 25 b&w photos. Agent, Michelle Tessler.
November 1, 2005
Byles, an accomplished urban studies scholar, chronicles the previously unexplored history of demolition as experienced in Europe and the United States from the 17th century to the present. As architectural trends altered both the outward appearance and the interior structure of buildings, demolition practices adapted to include powerful new innovations such as the wrecking ball and dynamite. Byles details specific demolition projects, including the large-scale initiative led by Baron Georges-Eugè ne Haussmann in Paris to alter the 19th-century city's layout and the 20th-century destruction of public housing projects in Detroit. Byles includes quotes from a large number of personal accounts of various demolition projects. But while he seeks to place the practice of demolition in a larger social and economic context, he offers little analysis beyond the personal accounts and no comprehensive understanding of the larger phenomenon; the reader is left to interpret events independently. Still, this work is a timely beginning of the exploration of the history of demolition. Recommended for public libraries." -Kristin Whitehair, Kansas State Univ., Manhattan"
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