Built: the hidden stories behind our structures

Roma Agrawal – Built

The ‘storey’ of structural engineering, as told by Shard designer Roma Agrawal

Having read Built, I now see triangles everywhere and feel reassured. As the author Roma Agrawal explains, structural engineers love triangles for their ability to withstand deformation, and use them to make the structures they design sturdy. Agrawal herself is a structural engineer – she was part of the team who designed the Shard, London’s tallest tower – and her obvious passion for the profession makes Built an easy and engaging read. If school physics lessons are a distant memory, then you need look no further than Built for a beginner’s summary of why buildings don’t fall down.