Why Buildings Stand Up: The Strength Of Architecture"Readers will rejoice... in the physical discoveries, ancient and modern, that create and govern the artifacts inside of which readers spend most of their natural lives."—New York Times 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 present day, including recent advances in science and technology that have had important effects on the planning and construction of buildings: improved materials (steel, concrete, plastics), progress in antiseismic designs, and the revolutionary changes in both architectural and structural design made possible by the computer. |
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action aesthetic allow Anthemius arches architect architecture beams become bending bottom brick Brooklyn buckling built buttresses cables caissons cantilevered chevet church collapse columns connected construction corners curvature curved developed dome earthquake Eiffel elements elevator engineer equilibrium erected feet fibers floor forces formwork frame Gothic cathedral groined vaults Hagia Sophia half-domes horizontal hypar inches inclined increase inner interior John Hancock Insurance loads lower masonry Meidum membrane modern monuments oscillations outer piers plastic pounds per square prefabricated pressure prestressed pull pyramid rectangular reinforced concrete reinforcing bars resist ribs ring roadway Roebling ropes rotate saddle Saddle surfaces Sears Tower shape shear sides skyscraper slabs space space frame span steel stiffening stiffness stone strength stresses structural materials supported surface suspension bridge Tacoma Narrows Bridge tensile tension ring thick thin thrusts tion Tower trusses upper vaults vertical walls Washington Roebling weight wind wire wooden