Bridges: The Art and Science for Creating Community Connections

CONTENTS OF CURRICULUM UNIT 08.04.09

  1. Unit Guide
  1. Introduction
  2. Objectives
  3. Strategies
  4. Bridges
  5. Calatrava's bridges
  6. Activities
  7. Lesson Plan 1: The Examination of the Structure of Leaves and Humans
  8. Lesson Plan 2: Finding and Developing Ideas from Nature as Inspiration for Bridge Designs
  9. Lesson Plan 3: The Building of the Bridge Models
  10. End Notes
  11. Bibliography for Teachers
  12. Reading List for Students
  13. Materials for Classroom Use
  14. Implementing District Standards
  15. Appendix

Bridges: Inspired by Nature

Karen Ruth Sturdy Yarnall

Published September 2008

Tools for this Unit:

Bibliography for Teachers

Blazer, Werner, editor. Santiago Calatrava: Engineering Architecture. Basel: Birkhauser

Verlag, 1989. This volume has some of Calatrava's sketches that have inspired his

structures that aren't readily found in other sources.

Brown, David J. Bridges: Three Thousand Years of Defying Nature. Buffalo: Firefly

Books, 2005. This well-laid out book provides a nice overview of bridges.

Dunn, Andrew. Structures: Bridges. New York: Thompson Learning, 1993. This book is

a gem for younger students. Dunn's wonderful illustrations were the basis for my

sketches in Figure 7, Figure 8, and the top half of Figure 4,

Dupres, Judith. Bridges. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 1997. Bridge

basics are covered using a variety of bridges as examples in this "long" (7 7/8" x 18

½") volume.

Gordon, J.E. Structures: or Why Things Don't Fall Down. London: Plenum Press, 1978.

Told with humor, the author explains in simple terms the theories of structures.

Graf, Bernard. Bridges that Changed the World. Munich: Prestel, 2002. This contains a

great variety of types of bridges along with an explanation of why each bridge has

earned a place in the book. They are the stars of this volume.

Jodidio, Philip. Santiango Calatrava. Koln, Germany: Taschen, 2007. Published at $9.99,

this book is a must for your own personal library if you can afford it.

Jodidio, Philip. Santiago Calatrava: Complete Works 1979-2007. Germany: Taschen,

2007. This is a coffee table-type book that you may have trouble putting down. It is

that good! Not only are the images gorgeous, but it also contains numerous sketches

by Calatrava that have inspired his works along with illuminating quotes.

Kent, Cheryl. Santiago Calatrava: Milwaukee Art Museum. New York: Rizzoli, 2005.

After perusing this volume, the wonder and use of movement in this museum addition

is understood.

Rose, Charlie. YouTube Charlie Rose interview with Santiago Calatrava.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YOsph6r8sk (accessed July 14, 2008).

Tacoma Narrows Bridge Collapse-"Galloping Gertie" (YouTube).

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mclp9QmCGs (accessed July 28, 2008). This is

amazing footage of the actual collapse in the 1940s.

Tzoni, Alexander. Santiago Calatrava: The Complete Works. New York: Rizzoli, 2004.

A sumptuous book that contains a wealth of images and information, it also includes

reproductions of some of Calatrava's sketches from nature that have inspired some of

his structures plus a concise catalogue with photos of over 100 of his works in the

back.

Tzonis, Alexander. Santiago Calatrava: Structures in Movement. Dallas, Texas:

Meadows Museum, Southern Methodist University, 2001. This volume contains

minimal text but noteworthy structures, sculptures and sketches with a timeline in the

back.

WGBH Boston/PBS Video. Building Big Bridges with David Macaulay. This video

featuring David Macaulay, the award-winning author and illustrator of the best-selling

The Way Things Work is worth watching and can be ordered from www.wgbh.org. or

a PBS site or checked out from some libraries.

WGBH Boston/PBS website for Building Bridges with David Macaulay.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/buildingbig/bridge/challange/multi/meeting.html (last

accessed July 14, 2008). This is a wonderful interactive site for students that

reinforces ideas from the video.

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