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Golden Gate Bridge: History and Design of an Icon
Nine million people visit the Golden Gate Bridge each year, yet how many know why it's painted that stunning shade of "international orange"? Or that ancient Mayan and Art Deco buildings influenced the design? Current bridge architect Donald MacDonald answers these questions and others in a friendly, informative look at the bridge's engineering and 70-year history. This accessible account is accompanied by 70 of MacDonald's own charming color illustrations, making it easy to understand how the bridge was designed and constructed. A fascinating study for those interested in architecture, design, or anyone with a soft spot for San Francisco, Golden Gate Bridge is a fitting tribute to this timeless icon.
128 pages, Hardcover
First published April 2, 2008
10 people are currently reading
54 people want to read
About the author
Donald Macdonald
90 books2 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 12, 2019
Not just a history book on a bridge but a comprehensive look at the people who started the design. The prose was unexpectedly beautiful. This short 115 pp book tells how in 1930, San Franciscans, with help from other architects and engineers around the country built a bridge in a most difficult setting, using the best technology at the time and created a icon. No photos but hand drawn sketches of the Golden gate and other bridges. This was a gift from my daughter Avocet when she visited her friend Anna Sophia near San Francisco.
May 23, 2020
Beautifully illustrated but bad writing made it painful reading. Get an editor!
June 20, 2020
Too technical for me. An architect would probably appreciate the book more.
August 19, 2009
Quick Read - not only providing the artistic and historical background to the Golden Gate Bridge, but also surprisingly detailed in describing the entire design, engineering, finance, and policy processes and back-and-forths that made the bridge. Reinforced a few things for me:
1) Similar to many other infrastructure, bridges is not simply "let's get it build", but it is a continual process that involves many iterations of:
Public opinion -> politics -> money -> design -> engineering -> real-life results -> (cycle begins anew, or more like continuously and simultaneously occurs)
2) Where does one want to play in this "cycle"?
If you are in the public opinion / politics realms, you may be able to have the fun/glamour of interacting with the communities, the politicians, etc, and also be involved with the higher-level goals and ideals of what the bridge shall be. On the other hand, you are mired in endless back-and-forth discussions, making presentations to convince people of things you may or may not believe in, and your job has nothing to do with engineering the bridge at all.
If you are in the financing realm, you may make the most money out of the process (that may be your ultimate goal anyway), can also work with the government, financiers, bond markets. However, you are subject to simply following the whims of the public/politics realm, and only give advice in the financial arena, only.
If you are in the design realm, you may have to cross multiple worlds to champion your design. But as the story of the Golden Gate Bridge showed that you may spend years championing one design, then realizing that it is not the best design in terms of money / engineering principles, then you struggle to whether keep championing your original design since that was your purpose of life for the past few years - or change to what you know is a better design. That is very painful.
If you are in the engineering, you may have the joy of doing what it engineering-wise the "best", as you are the professional and expert. And what you do every day is more likely to be actually implemented than any of the other realms. However, your hands are always tied to public/politics/financial reasons, and to satisfy the whims of design.
What a complex web.
1) Similar to many other infrastructure, bridges is not simply "let's get it build", but it is a continual process that involves many iterations of:
Public opinion -> politics -> money -> design -> engineering -> real-life results -> (cycle begins anew, or more like continuously and simultaneously occurs)
2) Where does one want to play in this "cycle"?
If you are in the public opinion / politics realms, you may be able to have the fun/glamour of interacting with the communities, the politicians, etc, and also be involved with the higher-level goals and ideals of what the bridge shall be. On the other hand, you are mired in endless back-and-forth discussions, making presentations to convince people of things you may or may not believe in, and your job has nothing to do with engineering the bridge at all.
If you are in the financing realm, you may make the most money out of the process (that may be your ultimate goal anyway), can also work with the government, financiers, bond markets. However, you are subject to simply following the whims of the public/politics realm, and only give advice in the financial arena, only.
If you are in the design realm, you may have to cross multiple worlds to champion your design. But as the story of the Golden Gate Bridge showed that you may spend years championing one design, then realizing that it is not the best design in terms of money / engineering principles, then you struggle to whether keep championing your original design since that was your purpose of life for the past few years - or change to what you know is a better design. That is very painful.
If you are in the engineering, you may have the joy of doing what it engineering-wise the "best", as you are the professional and expert. And what you do every day is more likely to be actually implemented than any of the other realms. However, your hands are always tied to public/politics/financial reasons, and to satisfy the whims of design.
What a complex web.
June 18, 2012
Macdonald writes like an architect. While this is very good for the level of technical detail he is able to provide, I found it hard to follow at times as I have very little knowledge of architecture. The drawings do help, but I would need a reference text in order to really understand this book fully.
75 years later, the bridge continues to impress as a feat of engineering and aesthetics. Macdonald does a marvelous job placing the bridge as a historical landmark that smoothly takes on the challenges of continuously severe weather conditions, real seismic threats, and the demands of an ever increasing population.
75 years later, the bridge continues to impress as a feat of engineering and aesthetics. Macdonald does a marvelous job placing the bridge as a historical landmark that smoothly takes on the challenges of continuously severe weather conditions, real seismic threats, and the demands of an ever increasing population.
July 25, 2021
I enjoy the Golden Gate Bridge as much as the next person, but these author dudes loooooove the Golden Gate Bridge. Took until deep into the book to realize the author was an architecht who actually worked on an upgrade of the bridge in the recent past... which also helped explain why I found the language a tad on the technical side (he is toooooo deep in the industry for us dilatantes). It might have worked better for me as a documentary, but as a book I needed much better illustrations.
2.5 stars
2.5 stars
April 4, 2013
Loved all the history and illustrations packed into this book! I learned a lot of interesting facts.
March 15, 2015
Short but descriptive. I want a longer history.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews