Why Buildings Stand Up: The Strength of Architecture

by Mario Salvadori

Book Overview

Between a nomad's tent and the Sears Tower lies a revolution in technology, materials, and structures. Here is a clear and enthusiastic introduction to buildings methods from ancient times to the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393306763
• Release Date: February 2002
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.2" x 0.9" x 6.2"

Customer Reviews

Very good read!!

Very nice book!! Very easy to read! There you can learn many things that you never known!!

excelent

I receipt the book very quikly and in excelent conditios of use, as a new book.

Accessible, Informational, and Fascinating

Salvadori's "Why Buildings Stand Up" is perhaps best introduced by the author's own words in the preface, succinctly and appealingly written: "This book was written for those who love beautiful buildings and wonder how they stand up." A somewhat lofty goal, the author nevertheless does a wonderful job of introducing the basics of building mechanics and then to describe how those mechanics - both static and dynamic - are at play in a wide variety of structures ancient and modern. The book is a thoroughly enjoyable read that leaves one much more greatly informed than one might expect, despite the obvious implication and stated goal of the title. The book truly represents a door opening into the world of structural issues in architecture. After a brief introduction on the historical background of the field of architecture, Salvadori introduces the pyramids of Egypt as one of the earliest examples of empirical approaches to structural erection ("empirical" meaning that much of this effort was trial-and-error, in spite of some basic understandings of how gravity affects, and creates, structural "loads" in any construction). Having allowed us to focus our thoughts on these early construction programs, we then are introduced in turn to essential engineering architecture concepts such as loads, beams, columns, and building materials. These discussions, which are covered in extensive, but nevertheless clear, text, serve as the foundation pieces for everything else examined throughout the remainder of the work. The text next moves into numerous specific building types, and examines the specific engineering issues surrounding each. By presenting the material in this manner, we are able to learn all about the sometimes complex statics and dynamics issues in a contextual manner, i.e., we see the actual real-life application of these concepts in the instances the author chooses as venues to teach these concepts. We look at houses from all ages, every major type of bridge, at domes, tents, balloon structures, and even "hanging dishes." We are also provided neatly crafted line drawings illustrating these concepts, and often reproducing specific sites that represent salient examples of the concepts under discussion. Beyond discussing structural concepts, we are also treated to specific examinations, by chapter, of some of the most fascinating building projects around the world, and are made to consider the unique and often complex structural issues at work in these buildings. These include the Eiffel Tower, the Hagia Sophia, the Brooklyn Bridge, and even a whole chapter on the fascinating elements in play in the classic medieval European gothic cathedral. In the case of gothic cathedrals, Salvadori selects one of the most interesting of cases, the Saint Pierre cathedral of Beauvais, as a dual example of how gothic structural forces are controlled through the pointed arch, the ribbed vault, and the flying buttress, but also how that, in some cases, such as at

Why do buildings keep standing up?

This book was recommended to me by my architecture professor and it is well worth reading. Without going into too much physics the author explains clearly the importance of forces like wind on structures like bridges, skyscrapers, domes etc. To illustrate these infuences there are chapters on some of the architectural wonders of the world: Eiffel Tower, Pyramids, Brooklyn Bridge and Aya Sofia to name but a few. There are no photographs in this book but crudely drawn pictures, which actually makes the reader understand the concepts better. If you like buildings and architecture in general this book is instrumental in the understandings of why buildings stand up.

clear and understandable

This is a book that sums-up alot of material about loads, properties of building materials, beams and columns, and translates it into the strength of modern structures. I found the book fascinating and it answered many questions, among them why the height vs base of the pyramids automatically contain the value of PI. This book discussed the anchoring of todays skyscrapers and large structures. This is a book that explains where the forces and loads are projected and how they are contained and countered without getting into the mathematical aspect of it. This author did an excellent job in conveyingthe logic behind structural engineering. Well done.