Scheda del Libro

Curatela: Giulio Peluzzi (in collaborazione con la Rivista dell'Arredamento)

Titolo: The Builders. Marvels of Engineering

Editore: National Geographic Society

Anno: 1992

Illustrazioni: Fotografie e disegni a colori

Editor: Elizabeth L. Newhouse

Direzione artistica: Cinda Rose

Copertina: Rigida con sovracoperta

Pagine: 288

Stato di conservazione: Più che Ottimo

Descrizione

T

he Builders documents some of mankind's most ambitious projects: structural and civil engineering landmarks that range from Egypts pyramids and Notre Dame de Paris to the Brookyn Bridge and an oil rig in the North Sea, the heaviest movable object on earth. Six chapters - with more than 400 illustrations - take you on a tour of many of the tallest buildings, the longest bricdges, and the largest dams that apply the newest materials and technologies. Sicdebars profile the builders whose genius made the structures possible.

The book begins with the challenge of overcoming distance by roads, canals, bridges, railroads, and pipelines. You'll visit the Appian Way, tour a new segment of interstate highway in a Colorado canyon, and travel along canals that span time and place. Then. you'll find out how 19th-century engineers learned to build high towers and skyscrapers and to tunnel deep into the earth. You'll visit Gustave Eiffel's tower, Hong Kong's state-of-the-art bank buildings and the Channel Tunnel linking England and France.

The section on sports arenas and exposition halls explains the workings of the Roman Colosseum, England's Crystal Palace, and the Louisiana Superdome. And a chapter on protection from floods and human foes examines projects ranging from the Great Wall of China to the new Dutch sea barriers.

The quest for the eternal has inspired many advances in building technology. Examples here include Greek temples, Gothic cathedrals, and the domed churches of Renaissance Europe. A final chapter shows you projects that harness nature's power - wind, sun, water. You'll see the world's largest concentration of wind turbines in California and giant hydroelectric projects such as LG 2 in Canada and South America's Itaipu Dam.

These works of engineering imagination from many times and places are often beautiful as they cross the line between utility and art - and they endlessly hold the power to amaze and fascinate us.