The Social Project : Housing Postwar France

Kenny Cupers, The Social Project : Housing Postwar France, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2014, 424 pages.   In the three decades following World War II, the French government engaged in one of the twentieth century’s greatest…

Engineers and the Making of the Francoist Regime

Lino Camprubí, Engineers and the Making of the Francoist Regime, MIT Press, 2014.   In this book, Lino Camprubí argues that science and technology were at the very center of the building of Franco’s Spain. Previous histories of early…

Harbours and Docks : Their Physical Features

Leveson Francis Vernon-Harcourt Harbours and Docks : Their Physical Features, History, Construction, Equipment and Maintenance with Statistics as to their Commercial Development, (reprint of 1885 edition), Cambridge University Press, 2014.   Professor…

Staircases: history, repair and conservation

James W Campbell et Michael Tutton (Eds), Staircases: history, repair and conservation. Abingdon, Routledge, 2014.   The staircase dates back to the very beginning of architectural history. Virtually every significant building from the…

La construction d'un château fort : Guédelon

Maryline Martin, & Florian Renucci, La construction d'un château fort : Guédelon, Ouest-France, 2014. Edition anglaise : Guédelon : A Castle in the Making, Ouest-France, 2014.   Qui ne s'est jamais interrogé en visitant un château…

Storia dell'ingegneria strutturale in Italia

T. Iori,  & S. Poretti (Eds), SIXXI 1. Storia dell'ingegneria strutturale in Italia, Roma, Gangemi, 2014.   La ricerca SIXXI (Twentieth Century Structural Engineering: The Italian Contribution) ha lo scopo di ricostruire la storia…

Das Bauunternehmen Dyckerhoff & Widmann

Knut Stegmann, Das Bauunternehmen Dyckerhoff & Widmann: zu den Anfängen des Betonbaus in Deutschland 1865-1918. Wasmuth, 2014.   Concrete based on Portland cement is one of the most important innovations in the field of building construction …

Pier Luigi Nervi e la modellazione strutturale

Gabriele Neri, Capolavori in miniatura. Pier Luigi Nervi e la modellazione strutturale, Milan, Mendrisio Academy Press, 2014.   Molte delle architetture di Pier Luigi Nervi (1891-1979), l’ingegnere italiano più famoso del secolo scorso,…

Building for Eternity

C. J. Brandon, R. L. Hohlfelder,M.D., Jackson, Building for Eternity : The History and Technology of Roman Concrete Engineering in the Sea, Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2014.     One marker of the majesty of ancient Rome is its surviving…

Histoire de la construction: Moderne et contemporaine en France

Xavier Bezançon & Daniel Devillebichot, Histoire de la construction: Moderne et contemporaine en France, Eyrolles, 2014. Les prouesses architecturales de notre XXIe siècle reposent sur des inventions dont beaucoup remontent aux deux siècles…