Contenido The Structure of Design An Engineer's Extraordinary Life in Architecture

In The Structure of Design, Leslie Earl Robertson recounts a storied career in engineering which has generated among the most innovative and formally daring buildings of the modern era, as well as his extensive collaborations with several titans of the practice: Minoru Yamasaki, Philip Johnson, Max Abramovitz, Romaldo Giurgola, I. M. Pei, Pei Partnership, KPF, Kiyonori Kikutake, and Gunnar Birkerts. Robertson’s large-scale projects with some of the leading sculptors of the day, including Richard Serra and Beverly Pepper, display the range of this engineer’s craft.

As a restless student from modest origins, Robertson’s first encounters with engineering were almost accidental, yet he would go on to be lead engineer of the landmark IBM buildings in Pittsburgh and Seattle while still in his early thirties. Immediately thereafter he embarked on what would become his most renowned project, the World Trade Center, to be followed by scores of major buildings around the world.

The Structure of Design is a personal and accessible chronicle of the partnerships and problem-solving that have forged classics of modern architecture, and a privileged look at how the key discipline of engineering influences design, as told by a genius and poet of structure.

“Whether for our tallest buildings or the intricacies of balance in sculpture, Leslie Robertson has come up with some of the most spectacular solutions to engineering problems in our age. His imaginative strength is in understanding the essence of engineering, of how structure is life-enhancing, and making the impossible possible.”
—Beverly Pepper, sculptor

“My partners and I have worked with Les Robertson for most of our careers. His structural concepts are fundamental to two of my most dramatic buildings, the Shanghai World Financial Center and the International Commerce Centre in Hong Kong. Les was the first person we would turn to when we were searching for a concept to structure our major tall buildings.”
—William Pedersen, Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates    



I   Selected Projects

II  Life and Philosophy

- Early Years
- Early Projects
- Approaches to Architectura Engineering and life
- The origins of the world as seen through the eyes of the structural engineer
- Some view of architecture and engineering
- Education of the structure enginner
- The history of construction as seen through the eyes of the structural engineer
- That first step

III Collaborations with Architects

MINORU YAMASAKI

IBM BUILDING , Seattle,Washington
THE WORLD TRADE CENTER  New York,  New York,
MEISHUSAMA HALL, Misono,Shiga Prefectue, Japan

HARRISON ABRAMOVITZ & ABBE ARCHITECTS

USS STEEL TOWER ,Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania

GUNNAR BIRKERTS

FEDERAL RESERVE BANK , Minneapolis,Minnesota

INTERVENTION

IBM MANUFACTURING & PRODUCTION PLANT REPAIRS, Sumare, Brazil

MITCHELL/GIURGOLA ARCHITECTS

PARLLAMENT HOUSE, Camberra,Australia

INTERVENTION

CITICORP CENTER,REPAIR & INVESTIGATIONS , New York ,New York

PHILIP CORTELYOU JOHNSON

AT&T HEADQUARTERS,New York ,New York
ONE PPG PLACE  ,Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania
PUERTA DE EUROPA.MADRID, SPAIN

KIYONORI KIKUTAKE

SALTAMA ARENA COMPETITION, Saitama,Japan

I.M.PEI

KAPSAD DEVELOPMENT, Tehran,Iran
BANK OF CHINA TOWER  Hong Kong
SHINJI SHUMELKAI  Shiga Prefecture, Japan
  - Tower of Angels
  - Miho Bridge
  - Miho Museum
  - Miho Institute of Aesthetics Chapel

PEI PARTNERSHIP ARCHITECTS

SUZHOU MUSEUM, Suzhou,China

REFLECTION

Lynn Beedle and the council on tall buildings and urban habitat

KOHN PEDERSEN FOX ASSOCIATES

SHANGHAI WORLD FINANCIAL CENTER. Shanghai China

NHK Shy Tower Tokio,Japan

FURNITURE SCULTURE AND PARKS