?Indulge your utopian fantasies with this picture?heavy book of penthouses? Building Design, 24^th March 2005

??fascinating?Bell has struck an attractive balance between coffee table slick and engaging and interesting textual content.? Grand Designs, June 2005

The penthouse is perhaps the most iconic of all living spaces. The word implies wealth, with an emphasis on space, views, and an enviable urban lifestyle. But when did our domestic aspirations start to look skyward? Is the contemporary penthouse a purely elitist space, or are there mass?market solutions that might open up the roofscapes to everyone? Penthouses are aspirational, conjuring up a life with an undeniably sexual edge ? Playboy magazine even developed its own penthouse concept for an early issue. They also imply a sense of mystery and power, these are the homes of industrialists, media moguls and film stars, elevated high above the rest of humanity.

Penthouse Living presents a selection of architecturally adventurous and dramatic penthouse projects from around the world, including modernist icons, cinematic visions and futuristic concepts, as well as a history of the penthouse, recent projects and tomorrow?s icons. Penthouse Living will open the door to just a few of these exclusive spaces, an in?depth look at the developing architectural response to living on high.

The penthouse is the ultimate urban location. Historically, the home of film stars, media moguls and industrialists, they are undoubtedly suffused with glamour. The very word conjures up a certain type of lifestyle and taps into our sense of aspirational living. One of the second wave of Interior Angles titles from John Wiley and Sons, this book brings together a history of the penthouse, and features the very best in design around the world. It is split into five distinct sections, each of which centres around a theme: classic, modern, high-rise, one-offs and future concepts, bringing a comprehensive and visual overview of the most attractive and inventive examples around the world.

* Showcases a range of projects from around the world, representing some of the most exclusive and aspirational domestic interiors in existence * Includes lavish photography, with over 300 colour images * Plans and drawings enhance the reader's understanding of the spaces * Accessible, engaging introductory texts and concise project descriptions highlight the key qualities and achievements of each design for the lay-reader * It lists the full contact details of featured projects and designers for anyone who wishes to enhance their interests in this area

The penthouse is perhaps the most iconic of all living spaces. The word implies wealth, with an emphasis on space, views, and an enviable urban lifestyle. But when did our domestic aspirations start to look skyward? Is the contemporary penthouse a purely elitist space, or are there mass?market solutions that might open up the roofscapes to everyone? Penthouses are aspirational, conjuring up a life with an undeniably sexual edge ? Playboy magazine even developed its own penthouse concept for an early issue. They also imply a sense of mystery and power, these are the homes of industrialists, media moguls and film stars, elevated high above the rest of humanity.

Penthouse Living presents a selection of architecturally adventurous and dramatic penthouse projects from around the world, including modernist icons, cinematic visions and futuristic concepts, as well as a history of the penthouse, recent projects and tomorrow?s icons. Penthouse Living will open the door to just a few of these exclusive spaces, an in?depth look at the developing architectural response to living on high.

• Projects from London, Paris, Tokyo, New York, Brasília, Vienna, Berlin and more.
• Playboy?s classic penthouse project from 1956.
• Tadao Ando?s New York penthouse scheme.
• Harry Seidler?s Sydney penthouse.
• Berthold Lubetkin?s Highpoint Two penthouse.
• Concept designs, including the Loftcube and m?house.

Jonathan Bell is a writer and freelance journalist. His books include ?Carchitecture? (August, 2001), ?The Transformable House? (Architectural Design, 2000) and ?Concept Cars? (RotoVision, 2003). He writes regularly for Blueprint, Wallpaper and Grafik, and is also the co?editor of things, a journal of writing about objects and their histories. He is married and lives in London.

2005-09-16 How the other half live

This is a really aspirational book that's going to make you green with envy! Totally amazing architecture coupled with views to die for, makes these places the stuff of dreams - and that's before you've got to the pages on the Playboy Penthouse! For some reason penthouses demand the coolest and most contemporary design treatment, so this book takes you through some of the most exciting homes money can buy.