usnews.com: Special Issue: Master Builders (6/21/03)

Sunday, July 12, 2009

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The Guide to Being a Grown-Up: 20-Something Financial Advice

Master Builders
In a time of knowledge workers and software engineers, it's easy to take feats of engineering for granted. It's also easy to see them as a menace.

Bringing down the house
It is an immutable law: Any structure that goes up will eventually come down.

(Arnold Newman – Getty Images)


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It takes vision and an iron will to create the perfect city. Peter the Great's dream city had an extra cost: the sufferings of thousands. More Inca derring-do Machu Picchu was built to last–and it did. Parks for people Olmsted turned landscape into architecture. Land of Moses A shrewd visionary used the power of public authorities to remake New York.	For 5,000 years builders have lifted their sights toward the gods. In Egypt, the priest Imhotep started it all when he built the first pyramid. More Gothic glow An abbot and an architect let in the light. Obsession in stone Gaud�'s celestial vision slowly takes form.
Soaring structures capture the imagination. Few have a stronger hold than the Brooklyn Bridge, with its grace and human drama. More Race to the stars Manhattan's glittering skyscrapers rose in a speculative frenzy. Tower and glory Engineering mastery spawned new beauty in Eiffel's creation. Illustrations provided by Chris Gall	Against all odds, a headstrong president and an unflappable Army engineer combined forces to join the Atlantic and the Pacific. More Tunnel visionary With a mighty wind, Holland made his tunnel safe for cars. Road warrior An unheralded technocrat built the highways that changed the nation.