GROUND BOO

Architects and builders have always had more in mind than mere shelter or work-and-storage space. Old and new buildings celebrate the glory of religions (the temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Istanbul's Hagia Sophia, Chartres Cathedral); of gov- ernments (Britain's Houses of Par- liament, the Kremlin, the U.S. Capitol); of families (the Marl-boroughs' Blenheim Palace, the Rockefellers' Japanese house in Pocantico Hills, N.Y.).
Renowned designers and unknown masons have collaborated o...