THE ARUP JOURNAL OVE ARUP'S 90th BIRTHDAY ISSUE SPRING 1985 Vol.20 No.1 Spri ng 1985 Contents Published by Ove Arup Partnership THEARUP 13 Fi tzroy St reet. London W1 P 68 0 Editor Pe ter Hoggett Art Editor: Desmond Wyeth FSIAD JOURNAL Assistant Editor· David Brown Foreword The world of the structural engineer 2 Ove's commitment to 'Total Design' is pro­ bably his greatest contribution to our profes­ Design of piled jetties and piers 11 sion in particular and to society in general. Planning in reinforced concrete 13 Whether the totality refers to the integration of design and construction, the place of London's shelter problem 14 structure in architecture, the place of ar­ Science and world planning 16 chitecture in society or on the impact of Shell construction 17 modern technology on society, Ove brings his intellect to bear on the issues with a direct­ Modern architecture: ness and integrity which has set an example the structural fallacy 19 to us all. His quest for truth is tempered by the Coventry Cathedral: knowledge that it is elusive and many-sided how the plan took shape 22 at best - non-existent at worst. He would agree with Einstein who said that 'whoever The problem of producing undertakes to set himself up as a judge in the quality in building 23 field of truth and knowledge is shipwrecked Advances in engineering 25 by the laughter of the Gods'. It is the freshness, honesty, lack of pomposity and Architects, engineers and builders 27 above all the humanity of Ove and his writings 'Key speech' 34 which are special to us all. The built environment 37 What better way to celebrate Ove 's 90th birth­ day than to collect some of the papers and Institution of Structural Engineers lectures which he has produced over more Gold Medal Speech 45 than 60 years. This issue of the Journal is a The Building Centre 46 token of our esteem and gratitude on this marvellous celebration. Bob Hobbs Jack Zunz Front cover: Portrait of Ove Arup by Benedict Rubbra Back cover: Kingsgate Footbridge, Durham (Drawing: Roger Rigby) professional milieu. We 'll make him a civil and he decided to become an eng ineer. But of The world of the engineer specializing in structures, and we course: a good engineer; because he chose will make it his job to design structures in dif­ this way also in search of an opportunity for structural engineer ferent circumstances, as employee or artistic fulfilment, the satisfaction of a job employer, as contractor or consulting well done. This was not surprising, Young engineer, as principal or consultant to an people are often idealists, they believe they This paper was the Institution of Structural architect. He should also be a difficult, can do better than their elders. They may not Engineers 1968 Maitland Lecture delivered at critical sort of chap, always thinking that know exactly what they want to do, but they the Purcell Room, London, on 14 November things could be better than they are. Being a are far from being aimless. Ernest realized 1968: reprinted from The Structural Engineer, mere convention he can of course afford to be that he wouldn't solve the world's problems, January 1969, by kind permission of the outspoken. Perhaps we should make him a no matter how much science he studied; and Council of the Institution of Structural foreigner - that would after all explain a he saw engineering in terms of solving pro­ Engineers. great deal. But all the same there must be blems that could be solved , problems of some sense in what he says, for if not the designing exciting structures. Eng ineering is I am sure you all agree that the Structural whole exercise becomes pointless. We'll not a science. Science studies particular Engineer needs no introduction to this make him, also, a bit of a dreamer, a man to events to find general laws. Engineering audience. But actually it is a bit hard to define whom dreams are at least important, and not design makes use of these laws to solve par­ the term 'structural engineer'. It could be one too much a man of action; for, as it says in ticular practical problems. In this it is more who has passed certain examinations, who is Ecclesiasticus: 'The wisdom of a learned man closely related to art or craft; as in art, its pro­ a member of this institution - in which case cometh by opportunity of leisure: and he that blems are underdefined, there are many solu­ he would even be a chartered structural has little business shall become wise'. tions, good, bad and indifferent. The art is, by engineer - one who holds a certain position And while we 're at it, we really must give him a a synthesis of ends and means, to arrive at a or does a certain job. For the purpose of this name, otherwise we'll never get to know him. I good solution. This is a creative activity, in­ talk, I would prefer to define the structural think Ernest would be a good name for him; it volving imagination, intuition and deliberate engineer simply as one who is competent to is not impossible that he may turn out to be a choice, for the possible solutions often vary design stable and economical structures of bit of a prig. in ways which cannot be directly compared by quantitative methods. different kinds to meet the requirements for I imagine that even as a child Ernest had an which these structures are needed. This inquisitive sort of mind, a curiosity about But I had better let Ernest get on with his means of course that one can be more or less what's inside things, how they work, how career. He studied mathematics, physics, of a structural engineer, and that civil they're made. And this being so, he was chemistry, mechanics, and the rest, learned engineers, mechanical engineers and some naturally attracted to science. You must about materials and their properties, about who are not called engineers at all might be remember that this was a long time ago, when forces, stresses, and all the other things, so called. Science stood for Truth, and Art for Beauty, mostly theoretical; and he took his degree in But the world of the structural eng ineer can­ and when Goodness was the purpose of life. engineering, specializing in structures. not be thus defined - it would vary with each They were absolutes - to begin with. And for Designer and contractor individual - and they vary widely, as a glance him they never quite lost that aura. Especially He was particularly interested in the poten­ at this audience will show. The structural truth: he thought he would one day be able to tialities of a comparatively new material engineer can only be an abstraction, a fig­ discover the secret of Kant's 'Ding an sich', called reinforced concrete and therefore ment of the imagination. the secret of being. joined an international firm which specialized Since, therefore, we must imagine this struc­ Of course he was disillusioned. He soon in the design and construction of reinforced tural engineer of ours, let us at least imagine ceased to expect any absolute solutions. But concrete structures. This firm had come in on a man who will serve our purpose this evening truth remained important to him, and so did the ground floor, so to speak, building quay 2 - who will provide us with a critique of his beauty - or rather, art. Still, he was no artist, walls, jetties, bridges, silos, water towers, coal bunkers and so on, in competition with were based on continental rates for output firm would get the job or that it would be built firms using established structural materials per man-hour; and reinforced concrete was if he did. Sometimes the client sent the - mostly steel, timber and stone. It seemed a looked on with the greatest suspicion by the design to all his competitors, so that they wonderful opportunity for anyone wanting to majority of potential clients. But Ernest could quote on this idea as well. Sometimes use his imagination and creative power. learned, and we will suppose that he present· an appreciative but just a little too greedy He got a bit of a shock when he first visited a ly became chief designer in the London head office abroad, to which all important building site and realized how far reality is at branch of his firm, responsible for designs tenders had to be submitted, clapped on an variance with theoretical assumptions about and tenders. He soon realized that his chief extra 10 or 20 %, thinking to cash in on an the placing of bars, the density of concrete, headache was not to design the structures, opportunity which was thereby lost. and dimensional tolerances. (These were but to get the chance to design them. The firm I am afraid that Ernest is given, in some early days, remember - concrete looks dif· tendered for jobs designed by consulting moods, to complaining that all his best ideas ferent now.) And he soon realized the futility engineers, city engineers, railway engineers, came to nothing. No one takes him too of pressing calculations to an exactitude etc., in order to get enough work; and much seriously; he had his frustrations - who which exceeds that of the basic assump· that Ernest saw appalled him. He frequently hasn't? - but he achieved a good deal, and lions. saw marvellous opportunities for suggesting most people would consider him lucky.