Wild Buildings and Bridges: Architecture Inspired by Nature by Etta Kaner, Carl Wiens
Published by Kids Can Press on October 2nd 2018
ISBN: 1771387815
Pages: 40
Goodreads

This is a great book for the next step of life after legos. The future architects will love this book. It’s a true story of building and bridges from around the world that were inspired by nature. One learns from observing how nature works wetland copycats dirty toilet water turns into a living machine, paint mimics butterfly wings to let the rain keep a round shape to roll right off, turning a desert green,  it’s not cool to be hot, and how to survive earthquakes. The Council House 2 office building in Melbourne, Australia was modeled after termite towers in Africa. They meant for the tower to work like lungs, but discovered they didn’t have it quite right. It still saves a lot of energy in ways that they didn’t expect. The school in San Juan Comalapa thick walls are made from used tires, dirt, plastic bottles stuffed with inorganic trash, this keeps the building cool during the day and warm in the evening.

The book is a mix of watercolor and photos. The stories include the history of some of the architects, the structures, and how they work.

After reading the book, students wanted to learn more about some of the structures, they researched on their own

Review by Jeri Fitzpatrick, GNGMS School, Gray