Rating: 
Summary: Marvelously entertaining!
Review: Filippo Brunelleschi is best known for his design of the dome of the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence. Apparently, he was an unkempt and cantankerous old goldsmith and sculptor, very paranoid and suspicious of his fellow artisans - even for fifteenth-century Florence. But it was not just the design for which he deserves accolades. The manner by which he proposed to erect the dome was so radical that he was labeled a madman. Even more startling was that he refused to reveal the details of how he intended to suspend the dome without traditional supports to the committee before he was awarded the commission, because of his fear that his new method would be stolen by other artisans. It remains the largest dome ever constructed using traditional materials.
Until 1436 when the dome was completed, the traditional method of building domes had been to support them with rigid wooden scaffolds (called centering) that had to remain in place as long as a year, until the mortar dried and it would be self-supporting. It was a remarkable feat of engineering, having the largest span ever constructed of bricks and mortar, spanning more than 140 feet, exceeding St. Paul's in London and St. Peter's in Rome. The judges of the competition were naturally reluctant to take Brunelleschi at his word without a demonstration of how he could build the structure without centering, and there is an apocryphal story that he told them they should award the project to whomever could get an egg to stand on its end. No one could do it, of course, until Brunelleschi came forward, smashed one end of the egg and showed how it could be done. Crying foul, his detractors argued it wasn't fair, to which Brunelleschi replied that had they been inventive enough to figure out as he had how to get the egg to stand on its end, they would have been able to understand how he could build the dome without centering. The fact is that the structural strength of the egg had fascinated people for centuries. It has enormous longitudinal strength. It is almost impossible to break an egg by squeezing end-to-end. Of course, now all of you will run to the kitchen to verify this, leaving a wake of eggs smashed all over. Construction of the cathedral began in 1296, but the competition for the dome was won by Brunelleschi in 1420 after a bitter competition with Lorenzo Ghiberti, Brunelleschi's rival. Political intrigue, jealousy, and paranoia characterized the story. To build the dome, all sorts of mechanical devices had to be invented and Brunelleschi designed most of them. More than seventy million pounds of bricks (each individually designed for the herringbone pattern that was the secret to the structural integrity of the dome), sand, marble and other material had to be hoisted an immense distance off the ground. In fact, when the dome was close to completion, the workers had daily to climb the equivalent of a forty-story stairway before they could begin work. The dome was completed just before the designer's death. 'It was an engineering feat whose structural daring was without parallel.' His architectural wonder has survived numerous lightning strikes and all sorts of stresses except one he could never have imagined. Recently, cracks were discovered in the dome that had been caused by the heavy vehicular traffic around the cathedral, so all traffic has been banned in that area. Another remarkable geologic problem was discovered only recently. Apparently, part of the cathedral was constructed over an underground river. Yet, it still stands. King, author of the novel Ex Libris, tells a compelling and informed story rich in period detail.
Rating: 
Summary: Slow start, resounding finish
Review: It took me several months to really get into this book. Usually I know right away whether a book will grip my imagination and draw me in. "Brunelleschi's Dome" did, however, turn out to be one of the true literary surprises of the year for me. I wrote a term paper about Brunelleschi and the Florence Cathedral waaay back in high school for a technical drafting class. It was that experience, many years ago, that led me to buy the book. Now an architect in private practice, I have the technical and artistic background to appreciate what then was bewildering and rather foreign to me. This book very slowly grew on me, until one evening I couldn't put it down. Once the initial history, setup and definitions were safely read and out of the way, this book really got interesting in a hurry. The portrayal of the unintentional designer who, 500 years later, has come to be one of the recognized geniuses of the Renaissance and a founding father of Western architectural thought is fascinating, surprising and at times downright strange. Brunelleschi's time half a millenium ago is brought to life vividly. The technical descriptions of what are still today considered amazing breakthroughs are well written, informative and enlightening without being unwieldy, self indulgent or too long. This alone is a skill many architectural writers are abysmally deficient in, preferring to fill pages with their own blather and pseudo-language ostensibly designed to make the "rest of us" hold them in awe. Ross King's departure from the language of architecture's current flirtation with trendy academia is refreshing, readable and understandable by those not in the professions of architecture, engineering or building. It is revealing that my 14 year old cousin, a young man with sharp interests in astronomy and rock music, enjoyed this book immensely.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite
Review: Ross King has explained how Brunelleschi designed and constructed the dome of the Florence cathedral. His methods were revolutionary as was the equipment he used to complete the project.
King has made the process clear and understandable to those of us who know nothing of engingeering and architecture. The book takes on the aspect of a mystery. I couldn't put it down.
Rating:
Summary: Renaissance Man with a plan
Review: Any visitor to Firenze cannot help but notice how Brunelleschi's great 'duomo' dominates the skyline. King's book, brief though it is, tells the fascinating story behind the conception, construction, and completion of this magnificent example (perhaps the greatest) of Low Renaissance architecture. This enduring dome set the standard for such later projects as St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, St. Paul's cathedral in London, and even the U. S. Capitol Building (designed by Benjamin Latrobe, notable also for his Romanesque-inspired Basilica in Baltimore). I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in exploring this hallmark edifice of the Renaissance.
Rating:
Summary: Filled with the Renaissance spirit
Review: Brunelleschi's Dome is the story of the construction of the great dome of Florence's Santa Maria della Fiore. Filippo Brunelleschi, the architect, studied ancient Roman buildings like the Pantheon in order to understand how to construct the mammoth project. Thus the story of the construction of the dome is a recapitulation of the story of the Renaissance itself, when Europeans sought to revive the ancient learning and skills of Rome and Greece. The book is very short but filled with interesting information on the dome's construction and on building techniques in general. It also provides a fascinating glimpse into Florence during the early Renaissance period, a time of great creative tumult and political turmoil. Perhaps only Irving Stone's The Agony and the Ecstasy matches Brunelleschi's Dome for its evocation of the glorious Italian Renaissance.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating look at an architectural wonder
Review: Part Florentine history and politics, part biography, part architectural history, part physics, Ross King delves into the building of the brick, eight-part dome that graces Florence's central cathedral. It's a fascinating look at the personalities and political system behind this extraordinary architectural accomplishment that today, still stands as the largest (widest) space ever spanned by a dome. In several highly politicized architectural competitions, Brunelleschi, a confident, egotistical creative genius with virtually no formal architectural education, is picked to complete two seemingly impossible tasks: first, how to span and build a dome that is higher and wider than any in existence without the use of form supports and second, how to elevate heavy stone blocks and building materials higher than any extant machine is capable of lifting.
Rating:
Summary: Very interesting and a quick read.
Review: ...Ross King does a very good job of describing the political intrigues, money problems, artistic rivalries and other issues surrounding the construction of the dome of the Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral in Florence, Italy - a dome larger than Saint Peter's or the Pantheon. The result is a fascinating book full of detail of the life and times of Filippo Brunelleschi as well as his struggles and genius employed in the building of what would prove to be his defining life work.
Also there is a lot of technical architectural information but the author does not bog the reader down with it.
My only complaint is that in my opinion the book should have contained a lot more photo's (color preferably) of the cathedral itself since this is one of the primary players in the whole story. Fortunately there is one good color photo at end of the book that does show the dome, the "lantern" and the city of Florence in the background. And plenty of other sketches and pictures of the people & devices discussed in the book.
Overall the book helped me appreciate the effort and ingenuity late medieval people put into building these structures without the benefit of modern equipment or structural science.
Rating: 
Summary: But where do you hang your hat?
Review: I really wanted to like this book. I like the renaissance - history and art - people and places involved. But i had a hard time getting fascinated by this book. It isn't really a biography of brunelleschi, and i never found myself caring for the man. He isn't fleshed out fully as a person. Nor is it a history of architecture, and so the dome never seems as compelling as it may (have) be(en). Also as a book on florence, or renaissance history as such, it just ain't detailed enough.
So in the end, i couldn't find anything in this eggshaped dome to hang my hat on.
Rating:
Summary: A Triple Treat
Review: Triple your pleasure, triple your fun. What in the world?? Well, let me tell you, if you are a history fan, a tourist, or an architect you'll throughly enjoy this read. How about if you like gadgets? Then make it a quad of pleasure. Mr. King tells the story of the building of the dome on Florence's great cathedral, but not just the construction. He dives into the political background, the artistic competition, the ins and outs of necessity being the mother of invention. We hear about the lack of pay, control of workers wine drinking, construction of never thought machines to do work unheard of or unseen on the planet. We also get a fair amount of Florentine history, as well as Tuscan history. But the strength appears in the engineering and architecture discussions. Not being familiar with this science, I found myself fascinated by the descriptions and discussions of the hows and whys of building in the 13th and 14th Centuries. You'll never get lost or in-over-your-head. His writing is clear and articulate, and will make you smile and laugh more than once. I'll give no plot hints, but you'll enjoy the read. I did, and my wife did too. An how we remembered our vacation there... Thanks Mr. King.
Rating:
Summary: Witty and Interesting View of Renaissance Firenze
Review: This is a fascinating read that brings together Firenze in the renaissance and the birth of modern architecture. The curious and funny anecdotal material keeps the story moving. If you are intellectually curious and enjoy reading about the human condition, you will enjoy this book.
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