In association with
|
THE ART OF STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING: THE WORK OF JÖRG SCHLAICH AND
HIS TEAM The author of this inspiring book spent a long time with Jörg Schlaich and his partners and has produced a fascinating detailed survey of the work of one of Europe’s great engineers. Before setting up his partnership Schlaich worked for Leonhardt and Andra, another famous German firm of consultants. While there he was in charge of the cable net structures for the Munich Olympic Games. I went to see the main stadium under construction and was stunned by the scale of the whole concept and the structural details of masts, castings and cable clamps. The work of the practice is adventurous and innovative and they use advanced technology, not as an end in itself but to produce engineering solutions of real elegance and beauty. Schlaich says that he considers structural engineering to be an art while being dominated by the laws of nature and by economic and practical realities. Structures should be ‘uncamouflaged’. This philosophy stems from his interest in the Deutscher Werkbund and the fact that he was first trained as joiner (cf Konrad Wachsmann) and then studied architecture at the same time as engineering. He also feels strongly that structures are influenced by the personality of the engineer. I have not been so excited by any book on the art and technique of structural engineering for a long time and it is an inspiration to my team and me for the future of adventurous and innovative ideas. An inspiring book for engineers, architects and anyone interested in design of the environment and, as a bonus, the photographs and illustrations are superb and very detailed. ANTHONY HUNT |