Observing Architecture
Look up! Every building you walk past, your school, your library, your house, was drawn on paper before it was ever built. The person who draws those plans is called an architect, and if you look closely at any building, you can find shapes hiding everywhere: squares, triangles, circles, and rectangles all working together to hold the building up.
What You'll Learn
- What an architect does - How to spot shapes hiding in real buildings - Three materials buildings are made from - Why some buildings are tall and some are short
Shapes Hiding in Buildings
Look at a house: the walls are usually rectangles, and the roof is often a triangle sitting on top. Look at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France: it's built from thousands of steel triangles, because triangles are the strongest shape, they don't bend or squish the way squares can. Round windows and domes, like the dome on the United States Capitol building, use circles and curves to spread weight evenly all the way around.
What Buildings Are Made Of
Long ago, most buildings were made from wood and stone because that's what builders could find nearby. Then came brick, small blocks baked hard so they wouldn't crumble in rain. Today, tall buildings use steel frames, like a giant metal skeleton, and glass walls, so the steel skeleton holds the building up while the glass lets sunlight pour in.
Next time you're outside, count how many triangles, circles, and rectangles you can find on the outside of five different buildings. Roofs, windows, doors, and signs all count!
Why Some Buildings Are Tall and Some Are Short
A one-story school is built low and wide because it needs lots of room for classrooms, playgrounds, and hallways all on one level. A skyscraper in a big city is built tall and narrow instead, because land in a crowded city is expensive, so architects stack many floors on top of each other rather than spreading out.
Match each shape to where architects use it.
Terms
Definitions
Drag terms onto their definitions, or click a term then click a definition to match.
Why do architects use so many triangle shapes in strong structures like the Eiffel Tower?
Why are skyscrapers usually built tall and narrow instead of low and wide?
Build a Shape-Strong Structure
Using paper, tape, and craft sticks (or blocks you have at home), build two small towers: one using only rectangles, and one using triangles somewhere in the frame. Gently push on both towers. Draw or write down which tower felt stronger and why, using the word triangle in your answer.
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