Building Big

Rating:
Summary: Big if you read at a 5th Grade level
Review: Building Big reminds me of a book I owned as a boy called "How do they build it?" Slick pictures of giraffes and elephants building dams and skyscrapers. This book isn't much different. Skinny on the details, full of colorful pictures you might get from Maurice Sendak with a lobotomy. In other words, I'm dissapointed that a subject of such scope has been slighted here.

Rating:
Summary: A BIG success
Review: David Macaulay takes the reader on a tour of some of the really big civil engineering structures of our time. Building Big has sections on Bridges, Tunnels, Dams, Domes, and Skyscrapers. Each part of the book describes the design and construction of from four to ten outstanding examples of the structure highlighted. The examples in each category are described in chronological order with some going back to the time of ancient Rome. The drawings that accompany the text are excellent at focusing on the details and techniques described. The integration of text and graphics is wonderful. In each case, Macaulay describes the design objectives, the interplay between the structure and the environment, and the engineering solutions used to bring the structures into being. This is a wonderful book for anyone interested in structural engineering and design. I have not seen the related PBS video series, but I can say that the book stands on its own very well. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A BIG success
Review: David Macaulay takes the reader on a tour of some of the really big civil engineering structures of our time. Building Big has sections on Bridges, Tunnels, Dams, Domes, and Skyscrapers. Each part of the book describes the design and construction of from four to ten outstanding examples of the structure highlighted. The examples in each category are described in chronological order with some going back to the time of ancient Rome. The drawings that accompany the text are excellent at focusing on the details and techniques described. The integration of text and graphics is wonderful. In each case, Macaulay describes the design objectives, the interplay between the structure and the environment, and the engineering solutions used to bring the structures into being. This is a wonderful book for anyone interested in structural engineering and design. I have not seen the related PBS video series, but I can say that the book stands on its own very well. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Gift for Someone Who Loves Architecture
Review: I gave this book as a gift to someone who loves and understands architecture. He found it most interesting. It contains many facts that are not generally know about large, historical structures.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Gift for Someone Who Loves Architecture
Review: I gave this book as a gift to someone who loves and understands architecture. He found it most interesting. It contains many facts that are not generally know about large, historical structures.

Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: Macaulay fans are going to be amazed and impressed by this, his best book yet. It's a companion to the PBS series that's better than the films! A must see and better yet, must buy.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliance and accessibility
Review: Once again, David Macaulay provides artistry and specialized knowledge in a medium that readers of all ages can appreciate. He explains complicated architectural structures with striking clarity, and his illustrations perfectly complement his engaging narrative tone. Macaulay joins fact and story beautifully -- rather than "lobotomized Sendak," I see conversational Da Vinci.