What do you think?
Rate this book
Der Turm und Brücke: Die neue Kunst des Ingenieurbaus
Long recognised as a classic in the USA, "The Tower and the Bridge" is now at last available in German translation. In his preface to the German edition, Jörg Schlaich writes. "This book is essential reading and a pleasure for the "structural engineering artist", in whose structures the connection between form and force flow is visible and which are distinguished by the ideals of efficiency, cost-effectiveness and elegance."
Billington founded with this book structural art as a new, independent art form, which he considers equivalent to architecture. It is no coincidence that the title states the two classic domains of the structural engineer; in this case Billington is referring to two outstanding structures of the epoch, the Eiffel Tower and the Brooklyn Bridge.
Billington describes in an easily readable style and in an entertaining manner the ideals, principles and methods of structural art during its historical development through examples of structures from outstanding engineers (e.g. Telford, Maillart, Freyssinet, Menn).
With the establishment of structural art as an art form and the explication of its inherent principles, Billington gives the reader well founded arguments for the aesthetic discussion of engineering structures. This also provides a basis for criticism of the new art form; for the criticism of construction that has long been demanded. This timeless book thus has the potential to give a new impulse to the debate about construction culture and particularly the aesthetic aspects of structural engineering in German-speaking countries.
Billington founded with this book structural art as a new, independent art form, which he considers equivalent to architecture. It is no coincidence that the title states the two classic domains of the structural engineer; in this case Billington is referring to two outstanding structures of the epoch, the Eiffel Tower and the Brooklyn Bridge.
Billington describes in an easily readable style and in an entertaining manner the ideals, principles and methods of structural art during its historical development through examples of structures from outstanding engineers (e.g. Telford, Maillart, Freyssinet, Menn).
With the establishment of structural art as an art form and the explication of its inherent principles, Billington gives the reader well founded arguments for the aesthetic discussion of engineering structures. This also provides a basis for criticism of the new art form; for the criticism of construction that has long been demanded. This timeless book thus has the potential to give a new impulse to the debate about construction culture and particularly the aesthetic aspects of structural engineering in German-speaking countries.
298 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 1985
26 people are currently reading
514 people want to read
About the author
David P. Billington
20 books10 followersA longtime professor of engineering at Princeton University, David P. Billington is the author of numerous books dealing with construction and design, as well as with profiles of major structural engineers. This last-named interest inspired several books on the works of the Swiss engineer Robert Maillart, including the 1990 title, Robert Maillart and the Art of Reinforced Concrete. Maillart, who lived from 1872 to 1940, was a pioneer in the expressive uses of reinforced concrete in construction and design. Writing in Technology Review, Thomas Frick felt that Billington's book "allows the reader to grasp the structural basis of Maillart's design decisions." Billington's interest in Maillart led to his cowriting the 2003 title The Art of Structural Design: A Swiss Legacy, which serves as an overview to the work not only of Maillart, but also of such designers and engineers as Christian Menn and Othmar Hermann Ammann.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 10, 2009
A classic!
After reading this book I wanted to quit work and return to school to study civil engineering. Of course, I made the mistake of mentioning this to my wife, who fell into paroxysms of laughter, saying she had seen some of the stuff I had built at home, and there was no way she would ever go on a bridge that I designed.
Billington discusses the interrelationship of efficiency, economy, and aesthetics and how great engineering works combine all three of these to the exclusion of none. The great designers manage to balance beauty with simplicity and cost. Frankly, I found this book riveting (pun intended, although he really celebrates the use of concrete as opposed to steel) and never fail to look carefully at bridges with a new eye.
After reading this book I wanted to quit work and return to school to study civil engineering. Of course, I made the mistake of mentioning this to my wife, who fell into paroxysms of laughter, saying she had seen some of the stuff I had built at home, and there was no way she would ever go on a bridge that I designed.
Billington discusses the interrelationship of efficiency, economy, and aesthetics and how great engineering works combine all three of these to the exclusion of none. The great designers manage to balance beauty with simplicity and cost. Frankly, I found this book riveting (pun intended, although he really celebrates the use of concrete as opposed to steel) and never fail to look carefully at bridges with a new eye.
October 19, 2024
Es muy difícil valorar este libro. Por un lado, es muy original, pues cuenta la historia de la construcción a nivel de grandes estructuras, empezando por los puentes para el ferrocarril de Thomas Telford y acabando en las de finales del siglo XX.
Es un libro que para leerlo bien debes tener muchos conocimientos de construcción y diseño. Hablo de ingenieros industriales (preferible los que hayan hecho la rama de estructuras) o de caminos. Palabras como celosía, sillería, dintel, cimbra, vano, etc., se citan como lo más normal del mundo.
No cita a Gaudí tanto como hubiera deseado, pero sí a Félix Candela del que me avergüenzo de no haber oído su nombre antes en toda mi vida.
El estilo tampoco es muy bueno, a veces muy enrevesado en las descripciones y, por momentos, alguna "ida de olla" en cuanto a ideas de arte estructural pero, a pesar de todo, no me arrepiento de haberlo leído por su originalidad.
Insisto: recomendado sólo a ingenieros o personas muy formadas en estructuras.
Es un libro que para leerlo bien debes tener muchos conocimientos de construcción y diseño. Hablo de ingenieros industriales (preferible los que hayan hecho la rama de estructuras) o de caminos. Palabras como celosía, sillería, dintel, cimbra, vano, etc., se citan como lo más normal del mundo.
No cita a Gaudí tanto como hubiera deseado, pero sí a Félix Candela del que me avergüenzo de no haber oído su nombre antes en toda mi vida.
El estilo tampoco es muy bueno, a veces muy enrevesado en las descripciones y, por momentos, alguna "ida de olla" en cuanto a ideas de arte estructural pero, a pesar de todo, no me arrepiento de haberlo leído por su originalidad.
Insisto: recomendado sólo a ingenieros o personas muy formadas en estructuras.
October 31, 2015
I struggled to read this book. Its premise is intriguing - that "structural art" came out of the innovations of a few visionary engineers - but Billington's style is obtuse and tangled. (At one point, he even uses the word "constructionally".) His arguments are thought-provoking - for example, that these innovators relied more on personal experience and observation than on scientific analysis to create their extraordinary works. So I kept reading. But, man, it was tough work.
April 21, 2020
Two giant steps in the evolution of structures: the Eiffel Tower & the Brooklyn Bridge. I enjoyed the way this book traces the influence Eiffel & Roebling had on their successors, especially that pioneer in daring reinforced concrete bridge design, Robert Maillart.
December 19, 2023
I loved this book immensely.
I think about the ideas in this book when I am on my commute and even when I am doing my laundry. It is a book that makes you see the world differently yet, I must say that this book is not for everyone.
The Tower and the Bridge is a book written by David Billington, a professor in Structural Engineering at Princeton University. Yet, even when he is a structural engineer, he spent his lifetime studying the work of brilliant structural engineers and realised that even-though they were engineers, their work had transcended engineering and had become a new form of art--structural art. This book is an ode to this idea that fundamentally good engineers actually create art.
He then continued to walk us through the stories of some of the most important and celebrated structural engineers of modern times. He explained to us the structural concepts, the ingenuity, their challenges and why they are so important. And with each page I am more and more convinced of his arguments. That function, can be beautiful. Than function must be beautiful.
In many respects for me David Billington did to Structural Engineering what Soetsu Yanagi did to everyday objects in his book "the beauty of everyday things", he prepared a framework to see better, to experience better. He prepared a way of seeing that is completely new, and hence, I can say that I can now be categorised as two people, the person before I read this book, and the person after. And plenty of the ideas I read I will carry in my work as an educator of structural engineering.
I must however say that I also paralel to reading this book took the courses on structural art provided by Princeton University at EdX, which is a class David Billington developed and now continued by Maria Garlock. Hence my admiration of the ideas in this book became more vivid through this class. My opinion of the book might have been different had I not partake the more technically heavy class about structural art--as the book itself is a bit more abstract, and I understand why it is a little difficult to read for some.
But, if you are interested in falling in love with structural engineering as you had probably not before, this I think, is your chance.
I think about the ideas in this book when I am on my commute and even when I am doing my laundry. It is a book that makes you see the world differently yet, I must say that this book is not for everyone.
The Tower and the Bridge is a book written by David Billington, a professor in Structural Engineering at Princeton University. Yet, even when he is a structural engineer, he spent his lifetime studying the work of brilliant structural engineers and realised that even-though they were engineers, their work had transcended engineering and had become a new form of art--structural art. This book is an ode to this idea that fundamentally good engineers actually create art.
He then continued to walk us through the stories of some of the most important and celebrated structural engineers of modern times. He explained to us the structural concepts, the ingenuity, their challenges and why they are so important. And with each page I am more and more convinced of his arguments. That function, can be beautiful. Than function must be beautiful.
In many respects for me David Billington did to Structural Engineering what Soetsu Yanagi did to everyday objects in his book "the beauty of everyday things", he prepared a framework to see better, to experience better. He prepared a way of seeing that is completely new, and hence, I can say that I can now be categorised as two people, the person before I read this book, and the person after. And plenty of the ideas I read I will carry in my work as an educator of structural engineering.
I must however say that I also paralel to reading this book took the courses on structural art provided by Princeton University at EdX, which is a class David Billington developed and now continued by Maria Garlock. Hence my admiration of the ideas in this book became more vivid through this class. My opinion of the book might have been different had I not partake the more technically heavy class about structural art--as the book itself is a bit more abstract, and I understand why it is a little difficult to read for some.
But, if you are interested in falling in love with structural engineering as you had probably not before, this I think, is your chance.
May 29, 2023
i like a ton of the ideas in this book. regardless of whether you're interested in engineering, public works, architecture, or the politics of the built environment, this is a necessary book to read. billington, as many engineer-authors are, is a tad overzealous and perhaps does not do his due diligence when making social and cultural arguments. he is not a humanist, by any means. but he is a very good renaissance man, and draws a ton of interesting ideas into the book, even if at points those references could be made with a bit more depth and complexity. anyway read it. and don't let the vaguely pro-highway stuff put you off.
January 2, 2024
3.75/5
compared to the other structures/architecture books i’ve read, this was quite academic… which makes sense, as the preface states it was the primary text accompanying a collegiate course by the author.
nevertheless… I was bummed that it read SO academically, in that it was essentially a series of pointed arguments aiming to prove his philosophical hypothesis. historical context was logically formatted, stepping from one designer to the next in a very formulaic but rather bland fashion.
this was not a bad read, albeit a bit slow. I just wish it could have been a bit more colorful narratively, as the ultimate arguments regarding structural art were beautifully crafted.
compared to the other structures/architecture books i’ve read, this was quite academic… which makes sense, as the preface states it was the primary text accompanying a collegiate course by the author.
nevertheless… I was bummed that it read SO academically, in that it was essentially a series of pointed arguments aiming to prove his philosophical hypothesis. historical context was logically formatted, stepping from one designer to the next in a very formulaic but rather bland fashion.
this was not a bad read, albeit a bit slow. I just wish it could have been a bit more colorful narratively, as the ultimate arguments regarding structural art were beautifully crafted.
December 25, 2020
The Book traces the history of structural engineering as an art that integrates elegance, economic and efficiency through bridge designers such as Thomas Telford, John a Roebling, Gustav the tower designer, only to mention a few on the long line of structural engineers who were tasked to design long span bridge structures using the least materials available showing that creativity requires courage and discipline to stay within the engineering boundaries.
March 25, 2023
Great read for all structural engineers. Inspires a greater appreciation for the design we do and the care we take to deliver joy only a cost effective solution but a truly elegant structure to represent the nation and achievement of those within. Emphasizes the freedom of bridge engineers to be their own architects and define beauty by efficiency, elegance, and togetherness of all associated parts of a public work.
March 31, 2018
Billington's main merit is that he popularized the concept engineers are capable of making art..However i think it is a little bit outdated concept..becouse you cannot frame engineering creativity within constrains if economy,efficiency and whatsoever..This critique is very well elaborated in the book titled Towards a New Engineering by M.Llunji
March 11, 2025
Offered me a new underpinning of every reason to love brutalist architecture which is so often and unreasonably reviled today.
June 22, 2017
This is a book I wish I read during my college years. It quickly goes through the elite structural engineers through the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as their major design feats. This book is very well organized and chronologically goes through the styles and materials used for design.
August 2, 2025
As a Software Engineer student, I fell in love with this book, and it is the culprit of my affair with Structural Engineering.
The author revisits how the structural art has changed since the 18th century, and describes what makes an structure a piece of engineering art.
Not a hard read, you don't really need too much knowledge of the subject to understand the point, although you may appreciate it more if you do.
The author revisits how the structural art has changed since the 18th century, and describes what makes an structure a piece of engineering art.
Not a hard read, you don't really need too much knowledge of the subject to understand the point, although you may appreciate it more if you do.
April 21, 2008
A great, easy-to-read history of structural engineering.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews