J. Taylor Nall

A reflection on the stories of building the Brooklyn Bridge by Michael Lopp.

These are the words and the stories I hear in the Brooklyn Bridge: enthusiasm, audacity, impossibility, and amazement. More importantly, I see a work of bare utility with a palpable sense of confidence, an equilibrium with nature, and a beauty that only grows with time.

We are defined by what we build. It’s not just the engineering ambition that designed these structures, nor the 20 people who died building the Brooklyn Bridge. It’s that we believe we can and decide to act.

I think it’s these stories of overcoming the impossible that allow these structures to still be marveled at well after our fascination with some of today’s modern building has dwindled, because of that refusal to say ‘no.’