Impressive sacred buildings, ancient bridges, and historic iron structures—some of which were built long ago—still amaze us today with their spectacular designs. We stand in awe before the Pantheon in Rome, built around 125 AD, Trier Cathedral, the oldest bishop's church in Germany, or the Doge's Palace in Venice, which dates back to the 9th century. Judged by today's standards, most of these buildings should no longer exist.
This book documents traditional construction methods and empirical joining techniques as well as contemporary materials. In chapters on timber construction, masonry construction, iron and reinforced concrete construction, around 20 international examples are analyzed with photos and schematic drawings. Expert articles explore the fascination that these buildings still hold for us today.
With a foreword by Florian Nagler
Pages: 303
Language: German
28 × 21 cm
250 b/w ill.
Publication: 3 Sept 2025
ISBN 978-3-0356-2929-3
Jörg Rehm, Dr.-Ing., architect and conservationist, Lecturer at the Technical University of Munich, Germany
Contributors
Sabine Kuban, specialist in structural engineering, State Office for the Preservation of Historical Monuments in Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart, Germany
Pierluigi D'Acunto, Prof. Dr. sc., Assistant Professor of Structural Design at the Technical University of Munich, Germany
Matthias Jagfeld, Prof. Dr.-Ing., Professor at the University of Applied Sciences Coburg, Germany
Jürgen Villain, Prof. Dr.-Ing., Professor of Materials Engineering and Manufacturing Processes in Mechatronics at Augsburg University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Juan María Songel, PhD, Professor at the Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura (ETSA) of the Universidad Politècnica de València (UPV), Spain
Giulia Boller, Dr. sc., Lecturer and post-doctoral researcher at ETH Zurich, Switzerland
Eberhard Möller, Professor of Architecture and Construction at the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Christian Kayser, PD Dr.-Ing. habil., building conservator and architectural historian
Bill Addis, Lecturer in Construction at the University of Reading, UK and Visiting Professor of History of Building Technology