Each day as I walk to work I pass by the site of the new Halifax Central Library. I get to see the building change a little every day.
I love watching the construction workers and their machines doing their things so high up in the sky.
I’ve also noticed that I am not alone in this fascination. At any given time, there are usually a bunch people just standing around watching the construction. I guess skyscrapers are of interest to a lot of people. Perhaps you too?
Here are a few non-fiction reading suggestions pertaining to skyscrapers and to the men and women who create them:
by Kate Ascher
A graphic tour through the inner workings of modern skyscrapers explains how they operate and how sophisticated networks of technologies and utilities are possible within their complex structures.
Art of the Skyscraper : the genius of Fazlur Khan (M)
by Mir. M. Ali.
The Art of the Skyscraper is the first serious study of Khan’s work and life¾from the 1950s when he studied at the University of Illinois, to the 1970s when the world watched as his phenomenal designs for the John Hancock Center and Sears Tower rose out of the Chicago skyline, to the 1980s when his engineering principles began to change urban skylines everywhere, with buildings that include the Bank of China Building in Hong Kong and the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, today’s world’s tallest building. With illustrations and detailed drawings, this intriguing monograph is an invaluable resource for students, architects, engineers and readers interested in skyscrapers.” – Publisher
Building the Empire State (M)
edited by Carol Willis