William F. Baker is interviewed by Jeremy Chen '11, Elizabeth Nadelman '11 and Maryann Wachter '11. The Structural Engineering Partner for Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), Baker is best known for developing the “buttressed core” structural system for the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest manmade structure.
This collection of talks on skyscrapers includes interviews with three giants in the field of structural engineering -- Bill Baker, Leslie Robertson,
Archive
David Billington, Gordon Y.S. Wu Professor of Engineering and emeritus professor of civil and environmental Engineering, reflects upon his personal and professional experiences with Fazlur Khan in this lecture titled “Personal and Professional Reflections about a Great Engineer."
Khan was a structural engineer who significantly advanced the design of urban buildings and is most famous for his designs of the John Hancock Center and Willis (formerly Sears) Tower.
Khan is the subject
Guy Nordenson, a professor of architecture at Princeton, is interviewed by Alex Beers '11 and Michaela Glaser '11.
Guy Nordenson and Associates collaborates with architects in the design process of complex and challenging projects. Recent projects include the World Trade Center Memorial Slurry Wall Bracing Structure in New York with Davis Brody Bond and Simpson Gumpertz & Heger and the design of the 7 Stems Broadcast Tower in New York with Henry N Cobb/Pei Cobb Freed & Partners.
Leslie Robertson is interviewed by Meg Lee '11 and Jasmine Low '11.
Structure magazine describes Robertson as "a creative pioneer and visionary for new engineering concepts and applying computers in design," and says that his work "has greatly advanced the art and the science of structural engineering theory, not only for skyscrapers but also for long-span roofs, domes and bridges."
This collection of talks on skyscrapers includes interviews with three giants in the
An exhibit on Felix Candela, featuring models and animations by Princeton students, is now on display at the MIT Museum. In this video, Maria Moreyra Garlock describes the structural beauty and simplicity of thin-concrete shell structures built by Candela during the mid 20th century.
David Billington, a Princeton professor of civil and environmental engineering, has received the 2008 Distinguished Award of Merit from the American Council of Engineering Companies.
At first glance, engineer Felix Candela's creations seem more like sculptures than buildings. Yet they are so sturdy that a group of students has spent the past three summers building models and studying how the Spanish-born Candela blended art and engineering.
In the following essay, reprinted from The New York Times, David Billington '50 explores the important role that good design plays in the lifetime and safety of bridges. Billington is Princeton's Gordon Y. S. Wu Professor of Engineering and directs the Program in Architecture and Engineering.
David P. Billington is well known for connecting engineering to other disciplines within the University -- to the humanities, art, science and politics. His courses in "Structures and the Urban Environment" and "Engineering in the Modern World" combine the study of engineering with an exploration of the aesthetic and social values intrinsic to it, an association of ideas that have made them some of the most popular courses among engineering and non-engineering students for decades.
