Structurally sound: Masters of Structure: engineering today's innovative buildings - Reviews

Architectural Review, The, Sept, 2003 by Tony Hunt

MASTERS OF STRUCTURE: ENGINEERING TODAY'S INNOVATIVE BUILDINGS.

By Sutherland Lyall, London: Laurence King, 2003. [pounds sterling]45

Sutherland Lyall has always been a strong advocate of the principle that engineers should get more recognition for the work they do in collaboration with architects, and this book is a very good apologia for the influence of engineers and engineering on architecture. It has an extensive introduction followed by 25 case studies of building structures, mainly throughout Europe but some worldwide.

The first paragraph of the flyleaf begins: 'Sometimes architects design extraordinary buildings, but in accepting the praise for innovation and creativity, especially the case of unusual building forms, the contribution of the building's engineer is forgotten. This book seeks to set the record straight through the examination of some of the most significant engineers working today, together with a selection of the most remarkable recent buildings'.

In his introduction, the author refers to the fact that engineering has developed all the new materials and techniques including iron, steel, glass and reinforced concrete and has been in the forefront of prefabrication techniques. The author quotes Sigfried Giedion's Space, Time and Architecture, where Giedion said that 'the seeds of the architecture of our [present] day were to be found in technical developments'. Giedion also said of the great bridge engineer Maillart, 'in designing the bridge Maillart began by eliminating all that was nonfunctional; thus everything that remained was an immediate part of the structure'. This surely is the art of engineering.

It is interesting to note that, almost without exception, the examples illustrated are non-orthogonal; building structures have moved on from the cartesian grids of the late twentieth century. The case studies present clear and understandable descriptions of the structural design and details of the projects.

At last, engineers are beginning to get the recognition that they justly deserve. Both young engineers and architects should be inspired by this book to join the spirit of collaboration between the two disciplines. And a copy of Masters of Structure should be on the desk of all today's practising architects.

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