Architectural Tourism: Site-Seeing, Itineraries and Cultural Heritage

This book explores the relationship between architecture and tourism,revealing how architecture is tied to its physical site but is transportable in our imagination and virtual spheres. It illustrates key buildings from history and the present day and discusses topics such as the culture of ruins, the evolution of tourist photography, the rise of designer museums, and architecture in television, film, and other media. It asks why architectural monuments and buildings attract and compel us to visit and how national identity is galvanised through architecture and tourism.

Format: Hardback
Length: 192 pages
Publication date: 20 November 2020
Publisher: Lund Humphries Publishers Ltd

Since the dawn of pre-industrial religious pilgrimages, architecture has enticed travelers, drawing them into its captivating realm. This captivating book explores the intricate relationship and even entanglement between architecture and tourism, unveiling the profound ways in which architecture is forever intertwined with its physical surroundings while also transcending the boundaries of imagination and entering the virtual realms of social media and armchair travel. Through a diverse array of studies featuring key buildings from history and the present day, including the iconic Taj Mahal, the towering Eiffel Tower, the stunning Sydney Opera House, and the avant-garde Bilbao Guggenheim, the book vividly illuminates a range of captivating topics, including the culture of ruins, the evolution of how tourists capture images of places, the rise of designer museums, and the pervasive influence of architecture on television, film, and other forms of media. It poses thought-provoking questions about why architectural monuments and buildings captivate and compel us to visit, why we seek to understand cities through architectural sites such as museums, historic sites, and monuments, and how national identity is galvanized through the fusion of architecture and tourism. Whether experienced through virtual or actual means, sightseeing becomes a site-seeing journey, a means of immersing oneself in the rich tapestry of architectural wonders that shape our world.

Weight: 806g
Dimension: 179 x 247 x 24 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781848222274