Product Description
This volume from the Masterpieces series presents contemporary bridges of different types from around the world. Variety of structural tasks and materials was given priority during project selection…. More >>
Masterpieces: Bridge Architecture and Design
Tags: Architecture, Bridge, bridges, Design, Masterpieces, priority, project selection
#1 by Irfan A. Alvi on April 18, 2010 - 6:50 pm
This is essentially a coffee table book which presents 69 bridges from around the world. Just about all of the bridges are beautiful, and some are utterly breathtaking. They’re all contemporary bridges, with most of them built within the past decade and some still under design or construction, so most of these bridges will be new even to bridge enthusiasts.
For each bridge, there are multiple color photographs which are generally of high quality. However, my one issue with the book, which is the reason for my deducting one star, is that the text describing each bridge is only one short paragraph (in English, German, and French). Moreover, this little bit of text emphasizes the artistic aspects of the bridges and is essentially devoid of the kinds of technical details an architect or especially an engineer (like me) would want. I presume that this is because the author is an art historian without technical background.
Despite the skimpy text, I still recommend this book to bridge enthusiasts. Laypeople will be able to appreciate the beauty of the bridges, and architects and engineers may find inspiration and ideas which they can apply to their professional practice.
Rating: 4 / 5