The Swiss balloonist Eduard Spelterini was perhaps Europe's greatest pioneer in the late 19th century of this earliest means of air travel. At the height of his fame he was known all over Europe as the King of the Air and Defeater of Gravity.

The Swiss Eduard Spelterini was perhaps Europe's greatest pioneer of ballooning in the late 19th and early 20th century. He was the first to cross in a balloon and photograph from the air the Alps in 1898 and to take aerial photographs of the.

This work presents a large selection of Venturi, Scott Brown, and Izenour's pictures in large size. The essays complement the pictures and investigate how they used images to contemplate the phenomenon of the modern city and forge the link to the architectural practice of the past decades.