Hongkong Bank : The Building of Norman Foster's Masterpiece

Rating:
Summary: Great saga about the construction of an incredible building
Review: Possibly the greatest work of art by the famous British Architect Sir Norman Foster, this review takes you step by step through the entire process of design, planning, and construction. At it's time the most expensive building on earth, Williams' book is a tour-de-force and should be a must read for every budding young architect. Seek it out and buy one now if you can (I bought 5 copies to give to my friends)

Rating:
Summary: The HongKong Shanghia Bank
Review: This fantastic book is almost impossible to put down. It follows the tale of the Bank from initial studies, through the invited international competition, design development, bidding, and construction. The challenges of building the "most expensive building ever built" in the middle of South-East Asia involved manufacturing and engineering feats usually reserved for aerospace of military efforts. The book really describes how the design concept responded to the realities of the program and the construction procedures and how Foster's office and others staged the monumental task of getting the building completed. Everyone involved claimed that it was the project they had been training for their entire career.