David Macaulay
Unbuilding
Stealth Science
Why this book counts
- Engineering & Technology
- Chemistry & Materials
- Maker / Problem-Solving
An imagined commission to dismantle the Empire State Building turns a skyscraper into a reverse construction story. The unmaking sequence makes structure, materials, machinery, and dependency order determine what can happen next.
The science inside
- Engineering & Design
- Inventions
- Materials
Your child will meet:
- A tall building is a system of connected structural, mechanical, and finish components rather than one solid object.
- Disassembly order matters because later parts may depend on earlier supports or access routes.
- Different building materials have properties that suit different structural and protective roles.
- Drawings and sequences can model an engineering process that would be costly or unsafe to test directly.
Use it this way
Parent effort: Quick discussion
"It is not a work of nonfiction but a work of fantasy, and not the story of the making of the skyscraper but the story of the unmaking of a very particular one, the Empire State Building . . . The exquisite drawing style that marked Mr. Macaulay's earlier works on architecture remains as whimsical as ever." -- New York Times Book Review
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