GARGOYLES, GIRDERS & GLASS HOUSES

Introductions to renowned buildings usually focus on their construction; Zaunders looks instead to their uniformly brilliant, ambitious, strong-minded architects. His seven choices include such usual suspects as Eiffel, “Pippo” Brunelleschi, and the Brooklyn Bridge’s Roeblings—but also lesser-known but no less bright lights: Mimar Koca Sinan, chief architect of the Ottoman Empire; Brazil’s hallowed, horribly disfigured Lisboa; the irrepressible Antonio Gaudi; and finally William Van Alen, whose Chrysler Building will always be Art Deco’s greatest monument. As in her “Inside Outside” series, Munro’s illustrations are themselves marvels—mostly partial rather than full views that, drawn with a controlled but fluid line, accurately depict details but also capture a vivid sense of each structure’s light, space, and feeling. Zaunders tucks an occasional nugget of biographical information into his accounts, but he’s more absorbed by his subjects’ spirit, characters, and accomplishments. Readers will be, too. (Nonfiction. 8-10)