Tower and the bridge the new art of structural engineering ( PDFDrive )

David P Billington The TOWER and the BRIDGE The New Art of Structural Engineering THE TOWER AND THE BRIDGE THE TOWER AND THE BRIDGE THE NEW ART OF STRUCTURAL ENG I NEER I NG DAVID P BILLINGTON Princeton University Press Princeton , New Jersey CONTENTS LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ix PREFACE xiii A C K NO WLEDGMENTS xvii l A New Tradition: Art in Engineering A NEW ART FORM THE IDEALS OF STRUCTUl\AL ART THE HISTORY O F STRUCl"Ull.AL ART ENCINBEIUNC AND SCIENCE STRUCTU RES AND MACHINES sn.ucn.nu:s ANO ARCH ITECTUIU! THE THREE DIMENSIONS O f' STRUCTUltE STllUCTtlltAL AllT AND SOCltn' PART I The Age of Iron Thomas Telford and the New Art Form 27 THE SECOND IRON AC E THOMAS T ELFORD AND BIUDCE ART TE.LFORD AND THE LIMITS OF STRUCTU RE AllT AND POLITICS TELFORD'S AESTHETIC SCIENCE ANO ENGIN EERI NG v Contents Brunel, Stephenson, and Railway Forms 45 THE PROBLEM OF FORM ROBEl\T STEPHENSON ISAMBARD ICINCDOM BRUNEL THE TENSION BETWEEN ST RUCTURAL ART AND BUSINESS BRUNEL AND STEPHENSON Gustave Eiffel and the Crescent Bridge 6o THE TOWER AND THE INDUSTRIAL FAIR STRUCTURE AND ARCHITECTURE GUSTAVE EIFFEL THE J8)) Cll.YSTAL PALACE AND THE 1867 PARIS EXHIBITION SPAN AND TOWER THE FIRST Cl'.ESCENT BRIDCE: DOURO THE SECOND C RESCENT: CARAB IT John Roehling and the Suspension Bridge 72 BRUNEL AND ROEBLINC THE IMMIGRANT ENG INEER ROEBLJNC AT THE LIMIT OF STRUCTURE THE OHIO RI VER BRIDGE ll0EBLINC S IDEALS The Bridge and the Tower 84 CLIMAX AND ENLIGHTENMENT FUNCTION FOLLOWS f"ORM THE UNCERTAINTY OF COST ECONOMY AND CREATIVITY STRUCTURAL ART ANO THE ARTIST PRELIM INARY IDEAS ON STl\UCT\JRAL ART PART II The New Age of Steel and Concrete Jenney, Root, and the First Chicago School THE OFFICE TOWER THE COTHIC AS NOSTALCIA THE SKYSCRAPER AND THE CATHEDRAL THE f"IRST C HICACO SCHOOL W ILLIAM LE BARON JENNEY JOH N WELLBORN ROOT ROOT AND SULLIVAN vi 99 Contents Big Steel Bridges from Eads to Ammann 112 SKYSCRAPEllS AND BJl.IDCES CHICAGO VERSUS ST LOUIS: THE EADS 811.IDCE THI!: FORTH BRIDGE THE TP.ANSITION: GUSTAV UNDENTHAL THE HELL CATE BRIDGE MODERN STEEL FORMS: OTHMAR AMMANN THE CEORCE WASHINGTON Bft.IDCE SCIENCE AND STRUCTURE HELL CATE AND BAYONNE TWO VISIONS: AMMANN AND STEINMAN Robert Maillart and New Forms in Reinforced Concrete 147 PROTOTYPICAL TWENTIETH-CENTURY MATERIAL GERMAN SCIENCE VERSUS Fa£NCH BUSINESS THE SWISS SYNTHES IS ROBEllT MAILLART NEW BRIDGE FORMS NEW BUILDING FOR.MS IO Roof Vaults and National Styles 171 ENCINEEIUNC IMAGINATION AND LOCAL VISION DISCHlNCER, ONSTERWALDER, AND THE GERMAN SCHOOL NERVI AND THE ITALIAN TRADITION THE SPANISH SCHOOL: CAUOi, TORROJA, AND CANDELA CANDELA AND THE DISCIPLINE OF THINNESS II The Directing Idea of EugCne Freyssinet 194 A NEW MATERIAL EUGENE f1t.l!.YSSINl!:'T THE WILDEll.NESS ORIGINS Of' PR£STRESSING LE VEUllDRE AND ARCH Af:STHETICS TH IN-SHELL VAULTING: ORLY AND BAGNEUX FllEYSSINET AND MAILLART 12 Discipline and Play: New Vaults in Concrete 213 FORM AND FORMULA CANDELA, MAILL\RT, AND THE AVERSION TO UCUNESS THE NEW SWISS SYNTHESIS HEINZ ISLER'$ SHELLS ISLER AND SCIENTIFIC THEORY vii Contents 13 New Towers, New Bridges 23] COMPETIT ION AND PLAY FAZLUR KHAN AND THE SECOND CHICAGO SCHOOL STRUCTURAL EXPRESSION IN TALL BUILDINCS CONCRETE TOWERS XHAN AND COLLABORATION THE HICHWAY EXPLOSION CHRISTIAN MENN TkOM FELSENAU TO CANTER CANTER BRIDCE DESICN DEMOCRACY AND DESICN Epilogue: The Idea of Structure as Art 266 DESIGN AND ART DES IGNERS AND ARTISTS NOTES 277 I NDEX 295 viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Unless otherwise stated, photographs are by the author l l The Eiffel Tower, Paris 1J l.2 The Brooklyn Bridge, New York City (photograph by ) Wayman Williams) 18 2.1 The Iron Bridge, Coalbrookdale, England (photograph by ) Wayman Williams) 29 2.2 The Craigellachie Bridge, Elgin, Scotland (photograph by 32 Elizabeth N Billington) 2.3 The Menai Bridge, Wales (photograph by Elizabeth N Billington) JS 3.1 Paddington Station Roof, L ondon 51 3.2 The Saltash Bridge, Plymouth , England (photograph by Elizabeth N Billington) 56 3.3 The Britannia Bridge, Wales (photograph courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art) 58 4.l The Rouz.at Viaduct, Cannat, France 66 4.2 The Pia Maria Bridge, Oporto, Portugal (photograph cour68 tesy of the Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris) 4.3 The Pia Maria Bridge (drawing by T Agans) 68 4.4 The Garabit Viaduct, St Flour, France (photograph courtesy of the Department of Art and Archeology, Princeton Uni- 5.1 The Niagara River Bridge, Niagara Falls, New York (courtesy versity) 70 of the National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution) 76 Notes commented on this perceived phcnomcrni in in 1970 confcrcnc~ held in Madrid in I 969 and New York S Anton Tedesko, "Shells 1970-History and Outlook," Ccmcrtlt Thin Slrtlls (ACI Publication SP-28}, Amcfican Concrete Institute, Detroit, 197 1, p Joh n F Abel, "Interactive Computer Graphics for Applied Mechanics,'' Procudingi of tht Ninth U.S National Congress of Applitd Mechanics (New York: Amcric:m Society of Mechanical Engineers, 1982), pp 3-27 Felix Candela, "New A1chitecturc," Moil/art Po{Hn (Prince ton, New Jcucy: Department of Civil Engineering, Princeton University, 1973), pp 119-2 Candela begins this essay by stating that ··1 have not too much to with this subject" and goes on to talk about how Maillart stimulated him and how similar he feds to Maillart in his own work Sec also Felix Candela, "Mein Wcg und was ich Maillart verdanke," ArchilMse (1 973): 18-29 Candela, New Architecture, Mail/art Papers, pp 12 1-23 Ibid., pp 123-25 10 Ibid., p 125 11 Peter Blake, le Corbusier: Architecture and Form (Hammondsworth, England: Penguin, 1966), p 11 12 Candela, "New Architecture," Mail/art Pa~Tf, pp 125-26 B Although Torro}a had published many technical works in Spanish, his aathetic ideas were not well known outside of Spain before the publication in English of The Structum of EdIJ4rdo Torroi;T: An Autobiography of Engineering Accomplishment (New York: F W Dodge, 1958) Fora brief summary of Lardy"s life, see FritzStiissi, "Pierre Lardy," Schwti:zen·sche&u:zeit· ung ())ec;cmber 13 , 1958): 762-63 H Personal communication, given to me by Isler on April 29, l983 15 Heinz Isler, "Discussion in Session 1118," &cond Congress of the Ftdiration lntemationalt de la Prkontrainte (Amsterdam, 1955), pp 736-42 16 The title of the congress, "Colloquium on Nontraditional C'.onstruction Processa of Shell Structures," seemed to n preu the viewpoint that the future of shells lay in new ideas rather than in looking lnckward at what had bttn done None of the papers came from West Germany nor did any refer directly to Dyckerhoff and Widm.ann's works Not hing of Candeb's WllS presented even though he had gained substantial fame by 1959; he wu still not welcomed in Spain 17 Heinz Isler, 'New Shapes for Shells," Bulletin of the International AmlCiation for Shell Structures, no.8 (1%0),paperC·3 18 Johan Huizinga, Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play Element in Culture (Boston: Beacon Press, 1955) foreword 19 Ibid., pp 8-10 20 N Arup and C J Kunz, "Sydney Opera House," Civil Enginu ring 41 (December 1971): 50-54 The art icle states that the building ' is not really of this age and in concept is more appropriate to the product of autocratic rule of a former era." (p 50) The original cost _C$timate was $7.8 m111ion in 1957, and by completion in 1973, nine yea rs late, it had cost $1i2 million, although the parking ga rage had been eliminated and the main concert hall scaled down Sec Enginuring News R.ttord, April 5, 1973, p l3 21 Huizinga, Homo Lude11s, p 211 22 It would be too much to argue t~t Isler and other structural artists not try to make a living, to run a businC$$, to sell themselves, and to compete sharply for design commissions But their selling point is always structures of minimum materials and costs as wel! as of great beauty 0 Chapter 13 I lohan Huizinga, Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play Element in Culture (Boston: Beacon Press, 1955 ), p II lbid., p 172 292 Notes "Construction's Man of the Year: Fazlur R Khan," Engirmm'ng Ntwi Record, 183 (February JO, 1972): 20-25 Ibid., p 23 ) "Design Stretches Concrete's Potential," Enginerrins Newt Record 192 (April 23, 1981); 10-11 Hal S Iyengar, Composite of Mixtd Steel-Concnte Conitroction for Buildings (New York: Amcri~n Society of Civil Engineen, 19n) Iyengar wu an :mist.ant of Khan's at the Slr.id:norc firm · Fazlur R Khan, "A Philosophical Compo1rison between Maillart's Bridges and Some Recent Concrete Buiklings," &ckground Pafxrs, 2nd National Conference on Civil Engineering· History, Heritage, and the Humanities (Princeton: Department of Civil Engineering, Princeton Univenity, 1972) pp 1-19 Two buildings use this arch design: Two Shell Plaza in Houston and the Marine Midland Sank in Rochester There is lOme question about the origin of the framed-tube idea Leslie Robertson, structural designer of the World Trade Center, wrote that "in 1962 perhaps for the first time, the concept of the tube wu employed in a high-rise building !the dc$ign for the World Trade Center completed in 1972) Uiter, in 1963, a tubular concept in reinforced concrete was developed for the 43-story DeWitt Chestnut Apartments." "Structural Systems-Theme Report," Proceeding1 of the lnttmotionol Conference on Pfunning and Design of Tall Buildings, August 21-26, 1972, vol l a: Toll Building Systems and Concepts (New York: American SocidyolCivil Enginters, 1972), p 405 Kh an, ·'Phikoophical Comparison," p 13 IO "Design Stretches Concrete's Potential," Engineering Ntw8 Record (April 23, 1981): 10-11 See also Lynn S Beedle and Hal S Iyengar, "Sel«:ted Worb of Fazlur R Khan (1929- 1982)," /ltBSE Structurt1, C23/82, International A$$0Ciation for Bridge and Structural Engineering (November 1982): 63-83 11 Fazlur R Khan, "The Future of Highrise Structures," Progru1M.-e Architecture (October 1972): 83 The thesis project for the diagonally braced concrete tower was dir«:tcd by architect Myron Goldsmith, one of Khan'5 partners and his colle;igue as an adjunct professor at Illinois Institute of T«:hnology 12 ''The Future of the Super Hi-Rise Buildings," Modem Steel Construction 12 (1972): l-9 13 Carl Condit, Chicago: 1910-70 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1971): 102-14 14 Fazlur R Khan, 'The John Hancock Center," Civil Enginm'ing 37 (October 1967)· 4{) 15 "Fazlur Khan: Avant Garde Designer of High·Rises," Enginetring News Rtcord 182 (August 26, 1971): !6-18 16 FaUur R Khan, ·' 100-Story John Hancod: Center in Chicago-A Case Study of the Design Process," IABSE foumof, J-16/82, August 1982, p 28 17 Ibid., p 30 18 lbid.,p 28 19 ibid., pp 31-3~ 20 Ibid , p 34 21 Lewis Mumford, The High'Wtl)'and the City (New Yori:: New American Library, Mentor Boob, 1%4), chapter 22 22 Lewis Mumford, It rt and Technics (New York: Columbia University Prest, 1952), pp 16-22 23 Lewis Mumford, Brown /Acadn (1931; reprint, New Yori:: Dover, 1955), p 106 24 Mumford, II.rt and Technics, pp 82-83 25 Ibid., pp 156-60 26 Mumford, 11ie Highway and tht City, p 256 27 Christian Menn, "New Bridges," in David P Billington ct al., eds., The Mail/art Papers, from the Second National Conference on Civil Engineering: History, Heritage, and the Humanities, October' 1972 (Princeton, New Jersey: Department of Civil Engineering, Princeton Univeni· ty, 1973), p 105 28 Christian Menn and Hans Rigendinger, "Cantcrbriid:e," Schv,'tiztr lngenieur und ltrchittirt 97 (1979): 736; David P Billington, "Swiss Bridge Design Spans Time and Distance," Civil Engineering 51 (November1981): 42-16 293 Notes 29 Frili Leonhardt, Bridses: Atsthetic1 and De1ign (Stuttgart: Deutsche Vcrlags-Anstalt, 1982), p 278 In this beautifully ill~trated book, Leonhardt shows hundred! of photographs of modern bridges, including many of Menn's designs 30 Wolf von Eckardt, "New York's Trade Center: World's Tallest Fiasco," Harper's 232 (May 1966): 96 31 M W Newman, Chicago: City of the Big Tomb.stones," Chit:ttgo Daily News Pan· Orama Oanuary z.t, 1970): 1Z Condit, Chiettgo, pp 11 2-13 H John M Dixon, "The Tall One," Architectural Forum IH {July/ August 1970): tt 34 Jama T Biehle, "Chicago's New Giant-for Giant's Onlyt' Architectural Record {M;uch 1967): 16 This ktter followed an article by James S Hornbeck, "Chicago's Multi-Use Giant," Architectural R~rd 141 (January 1967): 137 -i-i Epilogue I For an articulate discuuion of lhc artist as a servant of the community, WOl'lting in partnership with the general public, see R G Collingwood, The Principlet of Art (1938; reprint New Yori:: Oxford University Pren, 1958), pp 300-Z't Khan discus.scd this question at a lecture in Princeton on February 25, 1982, just a few weeks before his death To my knowledge, he never put the idea into print, although I believe he would have had he lived Sec, for example, Lewis Mumford, A.rt and Ttclmict (New York: Columbia Univcuity Prcss, 19)2), p 20 i K:irl Barth, From Ro1meau to Ritschl (London: SCM Press, 1959), pp 46-51 This refer· ence was brought to my attention by James H Billington S Ibid., p 49 Ibid., p SO I am not im plying here that art is merely highly refined craft Sec Colling· wood, The Pririciples of A.rt, pp 15-il, for a clCilr refutation of th:it idea 294 INDEX Aarburg Bridge, 161 Abeles, Paul, 197 Adams, Henry, 101-l Adler, Dankmar, 1o8 aesthetics, see structural art, aC$thctic basis of Agnelli Exhibition Hall, 18o, lo6 Algcciras Market Hall, 188 Allegheny River Bridge (Lindenthal), 11) American Concrete Institute, 216 American Institute of Steel Construction, '39 American Society of Civil Engineers, 75, 116, 123, 125 Amiens Cathedral, 103 Ammann, Othmar, 21 , 11, 36-37, 113, 123, u6, u8, 1~ 152, 210, 237, 273, 174, 185n21, 286n48; aesthetic moti· vation of, 130-34, 137, 138-40; Bayonne Bridge, 130, ~8· 8.5, 28611 26; Bayonne Bridge compared with Hell Cate Bridge, 38-40; Bronx Whitestone Bridge, 144, 145, pg 8.6; comparttl with Steinman, 1.p-46; early CX· perience of, 130-3 1; ~thats Bridge, 130; Outerbridgc Crouing, 130; rivalry with Steinman, 141-41; Swiss back· ground of, 129-30; Vcrraz.ano Narrows Bridge, 16, 21 , 37, 129, 137, 142; George Washington Bridge, 16, 21, 36-37, 130, 131 , 287n57 pg 8.4, 134-39, 143, fi& J J, 30, 33-34, 38, 39, 46-47; Pg 9.1, 158-59, 195 97 102-3 , fi& ll J, 19rn9; in concrete, deck-stiffened, 153, 161 63, fi& 9.6, 150; in concrete, three-hinged, Pg 9.2, 156-59 fi& 9.4, fi& 9.5; in steel, 114-1 7, Pg 1; in steel, twohinged, 126-28, 138-40, Pg 8.5; in wrought iron, two-hinged, ~ 70, fig 4.4, 95 arch bridges: in cast iron, 31 -32, pg J , in concrete, 148-49, architecture, see structural art, as contrasted to architecture art and business, tension between, 51-s 3, 210; su also structural art, and busi- ""' Arup, Ovc, 123-24 Assuan (Aswan) Dam, 118, 121 Astrodomc, 17 Bacardi Rum Factory, 192-93 Bach, J.S., 51-52, 112, 271 Bad Ragaz Br., 250 Baker, Benjamin, 112-13, 118-u; aesthetic idcall of, 119-21 , 128; Assuan Dam, 118, 121 ; evaluation f)f Britannia 295 Index Baker, Benjamin (continued) Bridge by, i20-21, 128, 136; Firth of Forth Bridge,84, 11 2-13, 118-22,{i.g 8.:J, 124, 270 Barth, Karl, 271_.,2 Basilica of Constantine, 178 Basilica at Lourdes, 104 Bauersfeld, Walter, 173 Bauhaus, 4, 8, 262, 277n4 30, 38-40, fig 8.5 beam-supported roofs, 163, 167, fig 9.9 Bayonne Bridge, Beethoven, L van, 12 Berger, Georges, 61 Berlin Congress Hall, 170 Bill, Max, 117 Bonar Bridge, 31, 32, 39, 44, 48-49, 90, :t81n19 Boomer, L.B., 114 Boston Bridge (Rennie), 38- 39 Bouch, Thomas, 118 Bourgcs Cathedral, 104 Boutiron Bridge, 205 Boyer, Leon, 6Q Brahms, J., 112 Branner, Robert, 103 Bridge Convention: St Louis, 114-15 bridges, see arch bridges; cantilever-con· structed prestressed concrete bridges; hollow box bridges; suspension bridges; truss bridges; tubular bridges Britannia Bridge,47-49, fig J.3, go, 115, 156, 136, 170; as seen by Baker, 12cr21, 128; compared to Brunel's Saltash Bridge, 54-59, 181n 18; compared to Roebling's Niagara Bridge, 77, 181n symbolism of, 51, 59 Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, 144, 145, fig 8.6 BrOoklyn Bridge, 11, 13, 14, 16,fig 1.:i, 17-18, 71, 76, 81, fig 5.3, 91, 116, 124, 147, 161, 273, 183n5, 283n16; aesthetics and engineering, 86-87, q 1-33, 170; compared with F'irth of Forth Bridge, 118-19; compared with Ganter Bridge, 261, 264-65; forerun· ners to, 33-34, 44; inRuence of, 133, 165; plans for, 75, 82; symbolism of, 17, 13, 81, 84-85, 133-34, 147 296 Brooks, Peter, 104-s, 107 Brown, Gratz, 113 Brunel, lsambard Kingdom, 45, 61, 63, 71, 81, 110, 281n 19; background of, 49; character and versatility of, 46, 5053; Clifton Suspension Bridge, 49-$0; compared with Roehling, 71-?4; Great Western Railway, 50, 53; iron ships, 50, 1, 52, 18on9; Maidenhead Bridge, 50; Paddington Station, 50, fig 3.1; relationship to Stephenson, 46, 49, 54, 59, 65, 141 ; relationship to Telford, 46, 5cr-p; Royal Albert Bridge at Saltash, 50, fig 3.:i, 74, 81, 123; Saltash com· pared with Britannia Bridge, 54-59, 18rn 18 Brunel, Marc, 49 Brunelleschi dome in F'lorence, see Sta Maria del Fiore Dome Brunswick Building, 137 buildings, see beam-supported roofs; column-supported Roors; roof vaults; tower forms Buildwas Bridge, 38 B'iirgi Carden Center at Camorino, 127, 229, fig 1:i.4 Burnham, Daniel H., 107 Bush, Vannevar, 8-q Calhoun, Daniel, 53 Campenon, Edme, 110 Candela, Felix, 183-84, 185, 186, 210, 112, 215, 116, 225, 130, 268, 26q, 170, 171, 173, 174, 190n38, 190n39, 191n 16; aesthetic ideals of, t91, 217-19; Bacardi Rum Factory, 191-9]; back· ground and heritage of, 183, 18q, 193; compared with F'reyssinet, 2o8-q; Cos· mic Rays Pavilion, 18q; hyperbolic paraboloidal vaults of, 1~, 191-q3; Iglesia de la Virgen Milagr0$3, 190; in· Ruence of Maillart on, 189, 190, 191, 217-19, 192117; Xochimilco Restaurant Roof, fig 10.7, 192, 215 Candelier Bridge, 202 Jndez cantilever-constructed prestrcsscd crete bridges, 25o-s4, 257 Carnegie, Andrew, 114 Cascella Bridge, 250 Chandrigar, 169 Chartres Cathedral, 101, 103, 104 Chitellerault Bridge, 150, 158, 200, fig 9.1, 287n6 Chiasso Roof, ue Magaz.zini Generali Warehouse at Chiasso Chicago School (6.rst), w-107, 111, 163, 236, 237, 242 Chicago School (sccond), 111 , 234-35 Chrysler Building, 236, 239, fig 13 Cincinnati Bridge, 75- 76, 78, fig 5.2, 137, l83n 16 Cincinnati Report, 78-82, 245, 283n 12, 283n16 Clifton Bridge, 49-50 Coalbrookdale, see Iron Bridge Colonia CUcll, 184 column.supported Boors, 163-64, fi& 91 Darby, Abraham, 29, 45; Iron Bridge, 1930, fig l l 34, 38-39, 64 Dartmouth Field House, 2o6 Dee River Bridge collapse, 47 Deer Isle Bridge, 143-44 deftection theory and suspension bridge deck behavior, 136-37, 143-44 Depression, 34 design competition, 49-SO, 67~, 75, 201, 149, 2s4; stimulus of, 21-23, 90, 178, 233, 165 Dewitt-Chestnut Building, 238, 140 Dischinger, Franz, 173-']4, 175, 176, 185, 189, 210, 211 , 211 , 215 ; Market Hall at Leipzig, 175 , fig 10 domes, see roof vaults Douro Bridge, 67-69, fig -•p , engineering and science fig 13.2, fig 13.3, 291n8 Tedesko, Anton, 192-