My son has an interest in engineering that started with trains and anything related to Isambard Kingdom Brunel. He may only be nine, but anything to do with bridges and construction has held his interest for some time now. Last half term he was learning about Ancient Egypt and as that’s a great passion of mine, we’ve been watching a series of programmes about the Egyptians and their building methods. I knew he’d enjoy looking at Discovering Architecture by Eduard Altarriba and Berta Bardi I Mila.
The 48 page hardback book Discovering Architecture is aimed at children aged 8 years and over and covers the history of architecture through the ages right up to ideas for the future. It’s published through Button Books.
My son has seen all of books about the Ancient Egyptians and photos I’ve taken on my travels. We’re both still in awe of the pyramid builders and their creations.
He learned about the Romans in Year Three and we’ve visited a number of Roman ruins both at home and abroad over the last few years. In Discovering Architecture the illustrations give children a clear understanding of how structures have been put together across the years and information on inventions such as the thermal baths and aqueducts that we can still see evidence of today.
Domes from around the world are featured including the Pantheon which still stands from the time of the Ancient Greeks through to the Hagia Sophia in Turkey and St Paul’s Cathedral in London. My son has grown up with me always taking photos of buildings, so he’s always asked questions as we’ve visited different places.
As well as learning about different structures, Discovering Architecture also introduces children to the creators of these buildings and how their concepts are still used today.
My son loves anything related to the Industrial Revolution and has seen how mass production has helped design move forward.
The book is full of information and ideas to make children think about what they can see around them. Design is such a fundamental part of our lives without us even realising it.
We always marvel at the buildings in London whenever we visit and my son still talks about our visit up the Shard, and the views across London. He’s seen my photos of the Eiffel Tower and the Petronas Towers and our friend’s photos of Burj Khalifa and the other extraordinary buildings that are constantly being erected in Dubai. One day hopefully he’ll get to see a few of them for himself.
Discovering Architecture is a great addition to our bookshelf and one I can see my son coming back to a lot in the years ahead. I’ve included my Amazon Affiliate link below (I earn from qualifying purchases) for your reference.
disclosure: we were sent the item mentioned for the purpose of review, my comments remain my own honest thoughts.
I’ve teamed up with Button Books to offer two readers the chance to win a copy of Discovering Architecture worth £12.99 for themselves. Complete the Gleam form below for your chance to win. Good luck!
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(Please note that all entries will be checked against comments for validation).
Only the first step of this form is mandatory, all other steps are optional. Only one entry per person is allowed.
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Once a winner is randomly picked, I will check if the winner has done what was requested and I will contact them, if they do not reply within one week, the prize will be allocated to another person. The winner’s details will be sent to GMC Distribution for Button Books, in order that they can arrange delivery. Please allow 28 days for delivery.
The giveaway will close on 5th June 2019 at midnight.
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“The Agel of the North” because it is beautiful and meaningful and it really moves me.
Blackpool tower – the skill to build without today’s technology makes it pretty unique
Almost impossible to choose between The London Eye and The Angel of the North. I am in awe of both. Amazing. Beautiful. Brilliant.
I love the Eiffel Tower, it is so iconic and I loved visiting x
Like my hometown’s Crooked Spire – a beautiful church with a twisted spire x
Big ben is my favourite because it is just so iconic and I love the sound of the bells.
Uluru is my favourite, because I’ve always wanted to see it for myself.
Statue of Liberty as reminds me of lovely holiday in New York
marsden rock, its the birdlife that uses it that makes it my favorite
hadrian’s wall, brilliant place
Angel – sorry missed the n out
Edinburgh castle. It’s such an imposing site looking up from Princes Street gardens.
love tower bridge. First time we stayed in London our hotel room overlooked it and it made me fall in love with london
The Tower of London as it’s a remarkable fortress standing majestically on the North Bank of the River Thames.
Stonehenge. It astounds me how to rocks got there in the first place and is really magical xx
Mine is The Liver Building, I adore Liverpool, the City, the people and the Football! I love the Liver Birds that watch out of the River Mersey, it is my favourite City and my favourite Building.
Big Ben, London, United Kingdom. As practical :- Clock, so accurate for time. Iconic / well known, recognised. Often seen :- On tv, such as ten o’clock news, etc. Also chimes in each New Year. Feels like part of the family :- Welcome, etc.
The statue of liberty such an iconic and amazing structure not to be missed
Leaning Tower of Pisa, just amazes me how a building can lean like this.
Probably the Taj Mahal, because it’s got a beautiful curved shape and it looks very romantic
I love the Eiffel Tower, it’s so romantic and my favourite landmark
Big Ben. It’s such an iconic structure that almost everyone knows it.
The Empire State building, the art deco structure of this building is just beautiful inside and out.
I love Big Ben because It is so familiar and a landmark that we all look out for and recognise!
The Tower of London – such a fantastic history
Byron Bay Lighthouse, my nephew got married there
Tower of Big Ben – Augustus Pugin’s masterpiece – recognised the world over
I love Sangrada Famillia it is so stunning and i love the fact it took so long to build and to this day work is still being made on its building
any UK lighthouse, permanent sea view,amazing birds and heaven to live somewhere like that
Hadrians wall is a great British landmark, you can feel the history!
I love the Natural History Museum in London. I think it’s the most beautiful building in the world
Eiffel tower because I love Paris
I love the cathedrals in Liverpool, they are amazing to stand in and just take it all in, the tour is really interesting too but the buildings are just magnificent
The Big Ben because its known around the world x
i love buckingham palace it makes me feel proud!!
St Marks Cathedral is beautiful
Arc de Triomphe in Paris – fun to climb and great views from the top 🙂
The Beehive in Wellington, New Zealand, I was fascinated with it when I went there
The Acropolis, when you see it up close it si amazing they could build something so elaborate so long ago
I love Big Ben, my girls always ask where it is when we go into London and they know where other places are from there.
I love The Angel of the North. She just stands there watching over everyone as they drive up the A1
Love the Tower of London, there are so many different forms of architecture added over centuries that it’s an amazing maze of different styles and buildings xx
Natural History Museum in London – I’ve just loved the design since I was a small child and it sparked my interest in Architecture and led me to studying it at university.
Big Ben, reminds me of trips to London when younger.
The Forth Bridge – the engineering is amazing. Standing under it is mind blowing.
Eiffel Tower as I love Paris and it is a lovely romantic place to visit!
I myself am very much obsessed with Brunel and architecture! So great that your son is getting into it in such an early age. That sounds like a fantastic book. Thanks so much for sharing the title and the review! ( not participating in the giveaway 🙂 )
-Soma
I love big ben and the houses of parliament
I know this may sound cheesy but it is the pyramids. It is overwhelming how they managed to construct such impressive structures with no machinery and that they are still standing solid structures with a history that is just so colourful. I went inside one a bit claustrophobic, dark and steep but so worth it just to get a different perspective. I went before the Arab Spring and hopefully it will get back to its old self in time
Eiffel tower in Paris!
Big ben as it makes me proud to be British 🙂
We all love the Big Ben! After reading some interesting facts about it, we appreciate it even more! X
I love the Angel of the North, both imposing and inspiring
Empire State Building, Iconic
The Eiffel tower
The Imperial War Museum in Salford. Incredible architecture both inside and out
Stonehenge because when I see it on the A303, I know I’m halfway between home and my heart place of Dartmoor.
Has to be Big Ben
The Trevi Fountain in Rome 🙂
The Angel of the North as we see it alot!
I love the London Eye as I remember it being built while I was working in a building on the other side of the Thames.
the Angel of the North as it always means I’m nearly at my birthplace
The Eiffel Tower as it looks so pretty
I love big ben I was always fascinated by it as a child
Blackpool Tower, its the seaside resort I used to go to as a child
Eilean Donan Castle – such a dreamy or such a scary place – it can be what ever you want it to be or it could be whatever you don’t want it to be !
The Tower of London as it’s one of the cleverest structures ever built. My next favourite for its cleverness has to be the pyramids
I love the Eiffel Tower as it reminds me of a picnic we had near by on a holiday to Paris when I was younger!
The tower of London, it is an awesome place to see and wonder around
The London Eye is stunning
La Sagrada Familia. I know it’s not finished yet, but it’s just lovely!
I love Tower Bridge, it looks beautiful and the engineering is astounding
Spitfire Island in Birmingham. The sculpture is fantastic and location is right next to the previous spitfire factory
The Tower of London, the amount of history that’s there, from the Normans, the Tudors and right the way through to WWII and the modern day. Iconic.
Machu pichu, is just unbelievable it’s in such a remote location
My favourite Landmark has to be Big Ben – it’s just so iconic and everyone recognises that as related to London.
Big ben as its such an icon xxx
I like the pyramids in Egypt. There is nothing else like them and they are so old.
Big Ben, I grew up in South Africa. I was amazed by Big Ben, seeing it for the first time was surreal and a moment I will never forget.
Alcazar, love the moorish style!
I love the statue of liberty for all it represents – hope freedom and the promise of a new life
It has to be the Eiffel Tower it’s such an amazing structure with so much presence
Big Ben. Its beautiful !
It would be the Louvre for me because I walked past it everyday on my lovely trip to Paris.
Stonehenge, the longest history
We love the Eiffel Tower. I was there last week and loved seeing it as part of the skyline wherever we went.
Big Ben London because of the rings it does and it’s so loud!
London eye, I was terrified to go on it but once I did it was very beautiful
The markethall in Budapest as it is so grand and beautiful and brings back so many memories
My favourite landmark is Easter Island – the stone heads. Fascinates me, what was the true story behind them?
Stonehenge is quite fascinating and full of mystery. Thanks for the competition!
I like the gherkin – fun building in london
The iconic eiffel tower, I’m sure one day I will get to visit it
The Houses of Parliament – the birthplace of democracy
I love the Eiffel Tower because it’s so iconic.
Petronus towers – great view
Tower of Pisa ,first one I visited
I love the Birmingham Library. My son wants to be an architect and he says it’s a building he wished he had designed!
I love the Tower of London, it just has a ridiculous amount of history!
St Pancras Station, London. The exterior is slightly hogwartian then you have the amazing domed roof inside, a lot like the roof at the British Museum.
Tower Bridge – it is really a piece of art, functional but beautiful
Blackpool tower it’s beautiful with the lights x
big Ben always loved it for some reason
The Sydney Opera house because I’ve spend a lot of time in Sydney. It’s unmistakable.