Rating: 
Summary: Interesting
Review: I loved the little know tidbits that were included in the book. I particularly liked the ongoing rivalry between Brunelleschi and Ghiberti. I like another reader would have appreciated either more diagrams (even if not of the period) to go along with the written description of some of the machines and techniques. They were rather hard for me to visualize.
Rating: 
Summary: The maker of machines
Review: In 1418 Filippo Brunelleschi was 41 years old. He had an uncanny ability to solve mechanical problems. He was a goldsmith. He traveled to Rome and was able to observe the vaulting of the Pantheon. Filippo returned to Florence. He was a life-long batchelor. He took no heed of his dress. He developed theories about perspective. He became involved in the construction of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence's cathedral. Models for the dome were sought. People laughed at Filippo's. He had a revolutionary design. Filippo was given a role in the construction of the cupola. Leon Battista Alberti was one of Filippo's ablest disciples. He wrote a book on architecture. Filippo worked on a hoist powered by oxen. By 1421 the hoist was ready. Filippo's ox hoist was remarkable. It was both complex and powerful. Certain perils were inherent in its operation. The hoist raised on average fifty loads a day. The hoist only moved things up and down. A means to move things laterally was required. The wardens selected Filippo's design for a crane. Leonardo Da Vinci later saw Filippo's machines and made sketches of them. As many as four million bricks were used for the dome. Some were specially made for the project. Filippo also took a personal interest in the quality of the mortar. Mortar was always mixed on the site. A dome is built on the principle of an arch. Filippo used herringbone bricks. The herringbone pattern was part of Filippo's technique to do away with the need for elaborate centering. Buildings of large dimensions have always presented moral problems. Observers said the dome was built circle by circle. Domes have always been a conventional symbol of heaven. Filippo was a scholar of Dante.
Rating:
Summary: An easy read and a good intro to quattrocento Florence
Review: King's book is a good read and is fairly informative for the non-specialist reader. It is short and engagingly written with a number of humorous or amusing passages. Despite its title, I found the book to be more successful at painting a lively and believable picture of early Renaissance Florence than at explaining the engineering of the dome. King's technical explanations are at times not as clear as they could be; likewise, sections of the book are somewhat lacking in a sense of purpose. King often digresses; in fact, whole chapters seem like digressions from his topic. To the author's credit, the digressions are some of the most engaging portions of the text, and often do enrich the reader's image of quattrocento Florence. Despite its flaws, I enjoyed the book. I have studied Brunelleschi's architecture in some depth in graduate school, but this book provided my first window into the context for and in which that architecture was built. I appreciate the more human point of view I now have of the project of building the cathedral's dome, and would recommend the book to anyone with a budding interest in the early Renaissance. I am not convinced that more experienced Renaissance scholars or enthusiasts would gain as much from the book; in fact, the often anecdotal nature of the narrative and King's ultimate heroization of Brunelleschi will probably come across as distasteful or annoying to some.
Rating: 
Summary: short straightforward narrative
Review: I read the book as part of an online book discussion group. For this purpose it is excellent. for it doesn't require a degree in engineering or architecture to understand, is a short and straightforward narrative where the author avoids the problems associated with trying to tell to large a tale in too small a space. It is a quick biography of the man responsible for the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. There were several fact filled sentences i read to my wife but other than these few it was a quick breeze, painless read to acquire a simple knowledge of the times and tribulations involved in building what is still the large masonary dome in the world(according to the book). I would have appreciated more diagrams of the dome as the text describes it. More sketches of the equipment and physical maps as the character travels. The word pictures at these points are not sufficent to fully disclose to the Italian-free unknowledgable among the readers what he is talking about. A mildly interesting book although if i didn't already have an interest in architecture i don't believe it would have particularly stimulated one. So overall a C+ book, but a rather good choice for a book group for dynamics of the group, not for the material. thanks for reading this review
richard williams
Rating:
Summary: Brisk Narrative, Busted Contract
Review: The title of a non-fiction book should be a contract: here, the terms of Ross King's deal are, "I will tell you all you ever wanted to know about the great dome of Santa Maria del Fiore, and, as specified in the subtitle, I will leave you feeling you know how Brunelleschi 'reinvented architecture.'" I enjoyed this book immensely, but King delivered on neither clause. I found myself puzzling over his technical explanations, rummaging through my library for a superior cutaway of the dome to better visualize his wordy exegesis. Oddly, each of the three well-known books I turned to - Murray's Architecture of the Italian Renaissance, Kostof's History of Architecture, and Hartt's History of Italian Renaissance Art - had precisely the same superb cutaway of the dome within a dome, showing Brunelleschi's Gothic vaulting underneath the classically inspired outer dome. "Mirabile dictu, so that's it!" This is only one of many instances where King created confusion where he might have parted the technical mists, with clearer text or with a better mating of text to illustration. A corollary to this concern: for a book that has a fair number of illustrations, I found these, for the most part, woefully chosen. I appreciated the reproductions of period etchings and drawings, but these should have been supplemented with additional helps for the text. And at the very close, as a veritable punchline to the short book, King provides one small photograph of the dome in middle distance - no angles, no details, no close-up of the lantern, no full-page, no color. For readers who have neither been to Florence and seen the magnificent Santa Maria del Fiore in its urban context nor seen many illustrations or aspects of the dome, these are galling omissions. As for the second term of the contract, King simply walks away from the subtitle's claim. Brunelleschi did indeed reinvent architecture, but not with the magnificent engineering feat of spanning the transept of Santa Maria del Fiore. On page 45, King discusses several commissions Brunelleschi won during the period in which he worked on the dome. Two of these, the Oespedale degli Innocenti and the Basilica of Santo Spiritu, literally did reinvent architecture. By investing these structures with rounded arches, classical columns, domal vaults, and classically derived ornamentation and proportions, Brunelleschi recovered for the Renaissance - before others could beat him to it - the architectural accomplishments of classical Rome. In an interesting chapter on Brunelleschi and Donatello's Roman adventure, King provides necessary background for understanding the Florentine achievement. What happened? Here's my theory: King, a fledgling historian but seasoned novelist, might have submitted a longer draft to his publisher, who may have responded, "you've got two stories here. One is really interesting, has a strong narrative line, tension, characters, villains, obstacles - a brilliant story. Tell the tale of il duomo! And lose that BOOORRRRing stuff about the Foundling Hospital and the other churches." And maybe, just maybe, the dutiful novelist cut his manuscript to the lively story before us. That said, the publisher liked the title, or perhaps even composed it to amplify the puzzling phrase "Brunelleschi's Dome" to novitiates, promising the biggest of the big pictures on the cheap - in well under two hunded profusely illustrated pages. A strong indictment. But I did indeed like this book a great deal and recommend it without difficulty - with the above qualifications. As I was reading it - actually, I went back and forth between the book itself and the Books on Tape edition, narrated much much too quickly by Richard Matthews, a chipper Brit - it struck me as exemplary "popular history": absolutely compelling as a story, vividly bringing to life Brunelleschi, aspects of his times, his rivals (particularly Lorenzo Ghiberti and his allies), throwing in everything but the kitchen sink - a little bit on war, military engineering, goldsmiths, political skullduggery (actually, King is weak here but provides useful dabs of color: Florence was a boiling pot) - with occasional patches of humor. In the end, this is a sequence of delightfully strung-together anecdotes woven though a book more about engineering - statics, stresses, and lifting machines -than about architecture and design. Filippo may have reinvented site management and construction techniques as well, but that's not the claim of the title, and it's not nearly as sexy as the universal "reinvention of an art form." If you're really interested in the topic, you'll have to look elsewhere to resolve the questions that still go begging once you've finished this brisk, enjoyable romp through 15th Century Florence.
Rating:
Summary: Covers all aspects...
Review: Yes, this book by Ross King covers all aspects of life during the time the dome was built on the Florence cathedral. As a student of architectural history, I read my share of long, boring books about art and architectural history. It is rare to find one with so much content written in such a readable manner. Architecture, particularly prior to the use of such modern methods as pre-fabricated metal structures, was about much more than the actual construction of the foundation, walls, roof, etc. Ross King beautifully ties in political intrigue, rivalries, material selection, and other aspects of daily life to paint a complete picture of Brunelleschi's glorious triumph with the first renaissance dome.
Rating:
Summary: very informative
Review: Very informative. This book was almost perfect. It explained the history of Bruno Brunelleschi to enclose the area
left open when the cathedral of Florence Italy was being built. There is a little history of previous domes trying to enclose large areas. The book was very informative, a little about architecture, Renaissance Florence, and of course the architect Brunelleschi.
The only drawback is the book could have used some more sketches and photos of the machinery used in building the dome
and the techniques used so that the whole dome did not fall in upon itself. Brunelleschi built the world's largest dome and finished the cathredral of Florence with out centering. Meaning
there was no support from below the dome to hold it up while
the dome was being built. The reader will have nothing but admiration for the architect that has to invent a process of construction along with designing most of the heavy machines to construct the dome itself.
Rating:
Summary: The Largest Vaulted Dome on Earth
Review: Not just the largest in Christendom, but the largest vaulted dome in the world. The story of this remarkable feat of engineering and ingenuity some 600 years ago alone would make for a fascinating read. But King manages to follow Brunelleschi often difficult maneuvering through the myriad political, social, and historical obsticles he faced in building an archtectural masterpiece which is a glory to behold in person.
Having spent my junior year in high school living in Florence, I never grew tired of the sight of the Duomo. I only wish I had known the story behind its contruction back when the landmark was an everyday appearance. This book is an interesting and at times flat-out compelling read about life in Early Renaissance Florence and if you plan on travelling to Italy, what a great book to help you appreciate one of the most charming cities in the world.
Rating:
Summary: A Very Quick Read
Review: When Brunelleschi constructed his dome in Florence, it was the largest dome in the world. He had all sorts of architectural problems to solve. This could have been a very dull book. It isn't. This is so well written that you will be able to polish it off riding the subway back and forth to work. It reads like a novel. I just love the many books that are coming out on science and technical historical subjects that are readable! They give a whole new slant on history. It is not just about who was pope, king or emperor.
Rating:
Summary: Filippo's Dome Vs. Lorenzo's Doors
Review: This is another great read from Mr. King. A week or two ago I finished his wonderful "Michelangelo And The Pope's Ceiling" and at that point decided I'd have to read "Brunelleschi's Dome". Over the past year or so I'd seen "Brunelleschi's Dome" in various bookstores and I'd skimmed through the pages- never buying it because I thought it looked too technical. I was put off by the various technical illustrations and thought, "Oh, this is really a book for an architect or engineer". But I was wrong. While there is no denying that the technical aspects are a major part of the book, the illustrations are very useful in helping the lay reader to understand the ingenious solutions that Brunelleschi came up with to overcome the numerous technical difficulties involved in the construction of such a large dome. By going into the nitty-gritty of the construction process, Mr. King allows us to appreciate Filippo's accomplishment. After all, this was a man who was a goldsmith and clockmaker- not an architect! And even though the book is under 200 pages in length, Mr. King manages to include a lot of interesting information other than the material which concerns the construction process. We learn about the lives of the masons who worked on the dome- how many days they worked (only about 200 per year, actually. They had off Sundays and religious feast days, which came about once a week. They also couldn't work in bad weather); what they ate and drank (surprisingly, although they were a couple of hundred feet above the ground they drank wine! Considering water quality at the time, wine was considered healthier. Florentines also believed that it "improved the blood, hastened digestion, calmed the intellect, enlivened the spirit, and expelled wind". Mr. King adds that wine "might also have given a fillip of courage to men clinging to an inward-curving vault..."!). Fillipo was very safety-conscious. Because of his precautions, only one man died during the 26 years Brunelleschi was in charge of the project. A good thing.....these were the days before workers' compensation and survivors' benefits! Another interesting theme of the book is the rivalry between Filippo and Lorenzo Ghiberti. Years earlier, Ghiberti had bested Brunelleschi in the contest to see who would be awarded the commission to cast and put up the bronze doors for the Baptistery of San Giovanni. Ghiberti won that competition. This time around Brunelleschi came up with the winning design. However, Ghiberti was still involved in "The Dome" project and there was no love lost between the two men. There was a lot of nasty backbiting behind the scenes of the "this guy doesn't know what the heck he's doing!" variety. Despite the fact that Ghiberti's baptistery doors are considered to be an artistic masterpiece (and were recognized as such even back then- even the persnickety Michelangelo marveled at the workmanship) the following anecdote will give you some idea of the ill-will between the two men: Lorenzo, who was generally an astute businessman and was always on the lookout for good places to put his money, had bought a farm in the hills above Florence. Mr. King writes, "As the farm, called Lepriano, did not prove a successful investment, Lorenzo was forced to sell it. Years later Filippo was asked what he thought was the best piece of work Lorenzo had ever done, to which he replied- "Selling Lepriano". If we add "comedian" to his long list of accomplishments, we see that Filippo Brunelleschi was indeed a true "Renaissance Man"!
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