Exploring architecture books is a wonderful way to introduce children to design, creativity, and the built environment. Here are some of our favourites.
If you are looking for a great book about animal builders, check out this blog post.
Text and Images from Amazon.
How was that built? by Roma Agrawal
Join Roma Agrawal, the award-winning structural engineer who worked on The Shard, for an exciting behind-the-scenes look at some of the world’s most amazing landmarks.
Meet the extraordinary people who challenged our beliefs about what’s possible, pioneering remarkable inventions that helped build the Brooklyn Bridge in the US, the Pantheon in Italy, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the Shard in England and the Sapporo Dome in Japan. Discover the ingenious methods engineers have come up with to enable us to build underground, underwater, on ice and even in space. And learn about the impact different forces and materials can have on a structure by carrying out your own engineering experiments from the ‘Try it at Home’ sections.
Beautiful and detailed illustrations by Katie Hickey, including cross-sections, skylines and close-ups of engineering techniques in action, provide unique and illuminating perspectives of our most awe-inspiring constructions.
Get ready to see the built world around you like never before!
Adventures in Architecture for Kids by Vicky Chan
Design Genius Jr.: Adventures in Architecture for Kids introduces kids to the design challenges faced by architects today, including choosing materials, designing for diverse users, and considering the environment.
Offering a world of possibilities for learning math, engineering, history, social studies, planning, geography, art, and design, this rich educational resource includes hands-on projects that allow kids to experiment, design, build, succeed, fail, and try again.
Children will draw upon many fields of knowledge and sharpen a variety of skills, including observation and communication, as they:
- Complete building challenges with corrugated cardboard and geodesic forms.
- Look at how designers have solved impossible problems of gravity and space with creations such as suspension bridges, the Loretto helix staircase, and Brunelleschi’s dome.
- Explore how materials can be used in interesting ways—how paper can go from flimsy to structural, for instance.
- Participate in family game-playing: client and design team—finding creative ways to meet a client’s wish list.
- Use games to test strength, balance, and structure.
- Engage in pure imaginative archi-doodling.
- Explain the why. Why did styles evolve as they did? What technology was available when?
Atlas of Amazing Architecture by Peter Allen
This fact-filled guide for kids 7 to 17 explores the world of architecture as you’ve never seen it before, from tiny shacks to vast palaces – and everything in between!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is biomimicry?
Biomimicry is the practice of looking to nature for solutions, then applying what we learn to design and problem-solving. Instead of inventing from scratch, it means studying how plants, animals, and ecosystems have already solved a challenge — like staying cool, collecting water, or absorbing carbon — and adapting that strategy for human use.
How does biomimicry help address climate change?
Nature has been adapting to extreme conditions for billions of years, so many organisms already hold working solutions to problems we now face at a larger scale — cooling buildings without electricity (termite mounds), collecting water in drought (the Namib beetle), protecting coastlines from storms (mangrove roots), and capturing carbon (corals, forests, kelp). Biomimicry means studying those solutions and applying the same principles to human design.
How can children get involved in biomimicry?
Children don’t need special training to think like a biomimicrist — just curiosity and a habit of asking “how does nature solve this?” Simple ways to start include a backyard scavenger hunt for nature’s patterns, a “design-an-animal” challenge for a changing climate, or building a small model (like a passive-cooling structure or a water collector) inspired by something they’ve observed outdoors.
Is biomimicry only for scientists and engineers?
No — biomimicry is as much a mindset as a profession. Anyone can practice it by observing nature closely and asking design questions. Professional biomimicry practitioners apply it in architecture, materials science, and engineering, but the same core skill — careful observation followed by “what if we built it that way?” — is exactly what this post’s classroom and family activities are designed to build in children.
Åsa Jomård
In 2015, Åsa completed a course in Biomimicry: A Sustainable Design Methodology at Minneapolis College of Art and Design. With over 10 years of experience exploring nature for inspiration and as a former member of Ben, Biomimicry Education Network, she brings both academic background and creative teaching experience to her work. Her materials seamlessly integrate stories, nature observations, and design challenges, making them perfect for inquiry-led learning in early primary contexts.
AI was used as a Thinking Partner.
One of my first Biomimicry resources for Young Children has been updated. You find it here and here. Your students and children will love to design using nature as inspiration from Smart Cities and Treescrapers to Futuristic Cars inspired by Slugs and Snails!
