The Construction of the Tower of Babel

Ranked #55 in Structural

Juan Benet’s penultimate book, The Construction of the Tower of Babel brings together two essays that testify to the multiplicity of the author’s interests, both personal and professional. The titular essay is a meditation on Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s 1563 painting, The Tower of Babel, which Benet calls "the first painting in European art history to feature a building as a protagonist." An engineer by trade, Benet brings his knowledge of building construction to bear on Bruegel’s creation, examining the archways, pillars, windows, and the painter’s meticulously depicted chaos at the... more

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