Sequel to “Why Buildings Stand Up”. It’s an easy read, covering a variety of building styles, and explaining incidents in which the buildings failed. As before, clear writing and great illustrations.

I enjoyed it, but not as much as the original. I skimmed more this time – where the first gave a high-level overview of architectural principles, this one went into more details and specifics. For example, when explaining how a tower block collapsed, it might explain the exact configuration of joints that failed. The general overview is more interesting to me.

I’m glad I read them both, but I’d only recommend the first one unless you want more of the details.

Review of the prequel: https://books.alexwlchan.net/reviews/25

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