Buildings in Disguise: Architecture That Looks Like Animals, Food, and Other Things

Reviewer's Bookwatch, Nov, 2004 by Lynne Marie Pisano

Buildings in Disguise: Architecture That Looks Like Animals, Food, and Other Things

Joan Marie Arbogast

Boyds Mills Press, Inc., A Highlights Company

815 Church Street Honesdale, PA- 18431

ISBN: 159078099X $16.95

Children and adults will enjoy Joan Marie Arbogast's nation- wide pictorial tour of buildings that don't look like buildings. A map of all featured buildings makes this book a must have on any cross-country road trip. Whether readers follow the guided text tour or browse through the intriguing pictures in this coffee table quality picture book, they are sure to find something of great interest.

There's a whole chapter devoted Lucy, the Margate elephant built in 1881, the oldest existing example of mimetic architecture. Following chapters highlight gas stations (you'll can gas up at a gas can, teapot, tee pee and more), and lodgings (you can stay in a windmill, teepee, or ship), restaurants (you can eat at a dog, milk bottle, ice cream cone and other fascinating food forums). The Flanders Duck gets to flap its wings in its own chapter. Next, are marvelous chapters on entertainment complexes (dinosaurs and other exciting event locales) and office buildings, where you'll see a bureau, a bulldozer. In each chapter are wonderful examples of amazing architecture and lots of interesting facts.

Arbogast ends her book tour with Sweet Willy the beagle, the youngest example of mimetic architecture (erected in 2003). Before closing, she shares her thoughts on the future of mimetic architecture and challenges the reader to design one of these buildings of his/her own.