Pilot and photographer Alex MacLean has flown his plane over large areas of the United States, documenting the landscape from beautiful agricultural patterns to geometric city grids. In his new book, he directs his lens at the rooftops of New York City, showing the great complexity and life of the roofs of New York's buildings. Depicting not only the city's famous water towers, but pools, tennis courts, gardens, sunbathers, art, and restaurants up in the air, MacLean's powerful images give readers a glimpse of a part of the city that usually remains hidden. His photographs leave little doubt about New York City's 'green' potential and the belief that improved outdoor spaces above lead to more livable cities below. Maps and captions help the reader to easily locate the photographs, and an essay by Robert Campbell puts MacLean's work into context. Whether you are new to the city native born, this fascinating look at hidden New York will be a revelation.

Nel 2006 la popolazione degli Stati Uniti ha raggiunto i 300 milioni di persone. Secondo il Census Bureau degli Stati Uniti, entro il 2030 aumenterà di altri 60 milioni. Per accogliere questo 20% si stima che si debbano costruire 60 milioni di unità abitative in 24 anni, un numero incredibile, specialmente quando si tenta di visualizzarlo da una prospettiva aerea. Che aspetto avranno? Dove sorgeranno? Le tensioni generate dal riscaldamento globale e dalla crescita della popolazione richiederanno nuove strategie di pianificazione per trovare una collocazione al numero accresciuto di abitanti. Ma è davvero sostenibile l'aumento progressivo e costante della popolazione? La risposta purtroppo è negativa. Dato che la terra e la sua atmosfera sono limitate, una crescita continua può portare a un livello di sovraffollamento e di penuria di risorse che determinerebbe un collasso sociale ed economico. 'Volo da circa 35 anni e sono stato testimone di uno sviluppo immobiliare a bassa densità che ha distrutto foreste, terreni agricoli e destinati al tempo libero e al divertimento. All'inizio, distoglievo lo sguardo, augurandomi che tale scempio non guastasse la mia capacità di cogliere la bellezza naturale. Con il passare del tempo però ho cominciato a soffermare la mia attenzione proprio sulle aree più degradate, mosso da un bisogno quasi vendicativo, augurandomi che anche altri si accorgessero dell'inesorabile processo di deterioramento.' (Alex MacLean)

For more than thirty years, aerial photographer Alex S. MacLean has portrayed the history and evolution of the American land, from great desert spaces to agricultural patterns to city grids. A trained architect who is closely involved in landscape heritage protection issues, MacLean has set out to create a series of pictures that record the universal history of town and countryside, and raise the issue of the landscape's future.

Here he turns his camera on the colorful, exhilarating world of American leisure. From the beauty of perfectly symmetric sports stadiums to the spaghetti-like tangles of theme parks to picnickers on a stretch of splendid beach, he illuminates how we inhabit the land and the potential for modern planning to create spectacular environments. 80 color illustrations.

The tradition of aerial photography arose from a keen nineteenth-century desire to see 'the world in motion.' Starting with Nadar's photographic balloon trips, airborne experimentation with landscapes and cityscapes continued through great photographers from Steichen to Burkhardt.

With Alex MacLean, we enter a different world. For thirty years, this committed photographer has portrayed the history and evolution of the American land, from great desert spaces to agricultural patterns to city grids. A trained architect who is closely involved in landscape heritage protection issues, MacLean has set out to create a series of pictures that show and explain the universal history of town and countryside. What he has to say may be invigorating or alarming, but it always raises the issue of the landscape's future.

This new collection of exemplary photographs taken across the American landscape reflects MacLean's passionate interest in the effects of time, geological movements, shifting landscapes, redeployment, pollution, urban sprawl, and the overlapping of surfaces and activities. More than 400 color photographs reveal in a unique way the physical splendor of America: both the beauty of the ongoing inhabiting of the land and the potential for modern planning to create spectacular environments.

Aerial photographs provide graphic evidence how American land has been divided, developed, and utilized