The Power of Architecture, a love letter for those building curious kids

Being a substitute primary school teacher I know what schools look like, and sadly, most of them look the same. If you work in an office building you probably know what they look like too and I’d bet that most of them are cookie-cutter-tastic. I’m not naïve, I realize that architecture, especially those that make a statement, come at a price of either money, land, resources or a combination thereof. The Power of Architecture: 25 Modern Buildings from Around the World is an illustrated book for curious kids that want to explore how things are and the way that they could be.

It’s a safe bet that most average adults will not know more than one or two of the buildings featured in 25 Modern Buildings. When I first opened the book I was expecting to see the usual buildings that are fawned over when people are talking about construction. I knew that I’d see the house with the waterfall in it that was from that architect whose name I kept forgetting (Frank Lloyd Wright) and probably skyscrapers in major metro areas. Instead what you see is a what’s-what of buildings around the world that we’ve probably seen in a Mission Impossible or James Bond film.

The Jean-Marie Tjibaou Cultural Center in New Caledonia is a great example of this. Architect Renzo Piano knew that it was equally as important to know the people of this South Pacific island, as it was to design something functional. The result is something that looks more like Wakanda than Wakanda, yet it opened in 1998. It’s made from local wood, with cascading spires coming up from the ground that creates a shell in the middle of its courtyard. The roof of the main buildings are at a seemingly impossible angle and the complex doesn’t look complete.

Come to find out that the Bilbao Effect is something that can happen after statement buildings like this are completed. It’s called that due to the fact that the Guggenheim Museum, designed by Frank Gehry attracted massive amounts of tourists when it was completed in 1997. That museum is in Bilbao, Spain and even if you don’t know it, you know it from having seen its backdrop in some movie somewhere.

The Power of Architecture is loaded with 25 buildings from every corner of the world. In Canada, there’s a university building that’s built on a series of sticks. In Denmark there’s an incineration plant that’s shaped like a ski run, complete with green vegetation in the area in which you’d ski down. In Beijing, where property values are amongst the world’s most expensive, a clay and brick hutong has been repurposed as a children’s library.

There are a couple of other buildings in The Power of Architecture that were also repurposed or created expressly to become a school. The teacher inside of me smiles at that fact. This is an oversized book that’s heavy on illustrations. Pamela Baron did the illustrations and they comprise a majority of the two-page spread that’s allotted for each building.

The text provides a little bit of background on the building, why it was created, why that particular area was chosen, its history, or what the building is currently used for. It’s written at an upper-elementary school reading level, but any age will be able to appreciate the art, in addition to letting their mind’s eye wander whilst the book is being read to them.

The only quibble that I’d have with the text is that the exact location of each building isn’t mentioned on the pages in a way that those ages can locate it. There is a map that tells you their location at the very front of the book. It is in the text, but having it in a blurb form on the pages, would’ve been helpful for those younger readers who aren’t as patient. However, those clever, impatient readers will be able to find a short list of the FAQs on each building in the back, with a short biography of each architect. That’ll also be a go-to for anyone who reads The Power of Architecture and is asking more about these works of art that are disguised as buildings.

The Power of Architecture: 25 Modern Buildings from Around the World is by Annette Roeder with illustrations by Pamela Baron and is available on Prestel Junior, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

There are affiliate links in this post.