Matthys Levy and Mario Salvadori offer a fascinating account of architectural and engineering disasters throughout history. From the pyramids of Egypt and the Hagia Sophia to St. Mark's Campanile in Venice, and finally to the Empire State Building and the Twin Towers, the authors take us on a marvelous journey through the technology, genius, bad luck, and, of course, tragedy that have shaped the history of architecture.
Using practical language while still incorporating the necessary technicalities of the subject, Why Buildings Fall Down is a book that seeks to explain the structural behavior and lifespan of man-made buildings, clarifying how external environmental factors, use, and construction planning affect their durability and strength.
Throughout the book, which is available for purchase on Amazon, the authors recount in detail a series of disasters related to emblematic constructions that have occurred in the history of humanity, from pyramids and basilicas, concluding with recent disasters such as the Twin Towers where a series of elements combined to cause the collapse of these structures, wanting to raise awareness how even with advances in construction techniques, planning and sometimes luck are necessary to prevent these situations from occurring.
About the authors
Matthys Levy has spent nearly 50 years designing buildings, domes, and bridges. His projects include the Georgia Dome Stadium in Atlanta and the La Plata Stadium in Argentina. He is the author of several books on engineering and structures, including this one and *Engineering the City: The Story of Infrastructure* (2000), co-authored with Richard Panchyk. He is an associate at the consulting firm Weidlinger Associates.
Mario Salvadori was an Italian-born engineer and architect who spent almost his entire professional career in the United States. He was a professor at Columbia University for over 50 years and an honorary partner at Weidlinger Associates. He authored a dozen seminal works on structural architecture and applied mathematics and received numerous awards throughout his career. In the last years of his life, he dedicated himself to teaching mathematics to children and young people in underprivileged neighborhoods of New York City.
