Failed Stone: Problems and Solutions with Concrete and Masonry
Patrick Loughran
NA 4119 .L68 2007
Dually trained as both an engineer and an architecht Patrick Loughran writes this second book in a continuing study of building materials and the challenges that their collapse presents in design. In doing so, Loughran hopes to highlight solutions overcome in past architectural projects and to prevent future problems using these building materials. Lavishly illustrated, this book showcases both well-known buildings and relatively anonymous structures. Close-ups point out where building materials have broken, cracked or taken abuse, and both engineering and design solutions to these problems are discussed. Chapters thematically discuss the types of problems encountered, such as discoloration, corrosion, and leakage. Lists of "lessons learned" are presented at the end of each chapter as a way of summarizing and grouping problems together. This book is valuable for practitioners who can incorporate these lessons into their work, but is equally interesting to those who appreciate beautiful buildings and want to understand why the concrete cracks or the surface is peeling away.
