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Title: Why Buildings Stand Up: The Strength of Architecture
ISBN: 0393306763
Author:
Mario Salvadori
Publicate Date: 2002-02-18
Publish: 2002-02-18
List Price: $16.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $9.56
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $7.44
Amazon Merchant Price: $11.53
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| Customer Review: |
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1: excelent
I receipt the book very quikly and in excelent conditios of use, as a new book.
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2: A useful explanation for building professionals who are not structural engineers
This book provides a layman's explanation of structural engineering without being overly simple or condensending.
The early chapters on loads, materials, and beams and columns were a short but good foundation. The explanations of buildings, bridges, and dams, and other "non building" structures provides a useful broadening of perspective for those involved primarily in commercial building projects, but who may, on occasion, encounter more unusual complex sturctures.
For those who are not engineers, but make their living building commercial building every day - building owners, architects, contractors, lenders, and insurers - this is about as much information as they need and can handle.
Choosing Project Success - A Guide for Building Professionals
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3: Amazon Sucks!!!!
I never received this book from Amazon. Now I get to go through the fun process of trying to get a refund. Amazon sucks. Meanwhile, I bought this book at a bookstore and it is really good.
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4: 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 Beauvais, collapse still ensued under certain conditions. The Beauvais case is particularly interesting, as the lofty goal of the edifice - to be the tallest gothic cathedral ever built - may not have been the actual cause of collapse, and the steps taken to prevent further collapse (such as the adding of additional interior piers in the 14th century) are not necessarily the only reason why collapse has not since occurred in the structure since the 16th century.
Salvadori's text is a companion to his other volume, "Why Buildings Fall Down," and although this might sound like a marketing ploy, upon reading the two texts one can see the very different approach and outcomes produced by these two approaches. You can certainly read either volume by itself and walk away satisfied, but if you read BOTH volumes, the opportunity is presented to the reader to more carefully integrate the learning into a more meaningful whole. One might view one approach as a top-down approach, and the other a bottom-up approach, although that metaphor slightly fails in some respects. But there is nevertheless a great value in seeing how stressors, tension, lateral forces, and so on balance in harmony in structurally-sound buildings and structures, and how unbalanced loads can force collapse in all types of structures.
As an adjunct reading to the mechanical engineer, I can heartily recommend both these texts to help contextualize and illuminate the concepts learned in engineering classes. For the general reader, I can equally recommend these books as fascinating and educational forays into the world of structures, both standing and not.
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5: Essential Read for Architecture Students
This book is an essential read for architecture students entering the first years of architecture school or entering into Structures class, as well as curious people just interested in architecture in general. It is topically comprehensive in its description of critical physics, structure, and historical events that effect the building industry today.
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