Fazlur Khan
Encyclopedia
Fazlur Rahman Khan (April 3, 1929 - March 27, 1982) was a Bangladeshi born architect and structural engineer
. He is a central figure behind the "Second Chicago School
" of architecture, and is regarded as the "Father of tubular design
for high-rises". Khan, "more than any other individual, ushered in a renaissance
in skyscraper
construction during the second half of the twentieth century." He has been called the "Einstein
of structural engineering
" and the "Greatest Structural Engineer of the 20th Century" for his innovative use of structural system
s that remain fundamental to modern skyscraper construction
. His most famous buildings are the John Hancock Center
and the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), which was the world's tallest building for several decades.
, Madaripur District
, Dhaka Division, Bangladesh
. He was born on 3 April 1929, in Dhaka. His father, Khan Bahadur Abdur Rahman Khan, BES was ADPI of Bengal and after retirement served as Principal of Jagannath College, Dhaka.
in 1952 where he pursued advanced studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
. He was able to travel because he finally had enough money. In three years Khan earned two Master's degrees — one in structural engineering
and one in theoretical and applied mechanics — and a PhD
in structural engineering
.
, he began working in Chicago
, Illinois
. He was made a partner in 1966 and became a naturalized American citizen in 1967. During the 1960s and 1970s, he became noted for his designs for Chicago’s 100-story John Hancock Center
and 108-story Sears Tower
, the tallest building in the world in its time and still the tallest in the United States since its completion in 1974. He is also responsible for designing notable buildings in Bangladesh
and Saudi Arabia
.
Fazlur Khan's personal papers, the majority of which were found in his office at the time of his death, are held by the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries
at the Art Institute of Chicago
. The Fazlur Khan Collection includes manuscripts, sketches, audio cassette tapes, slides and other materials regarding his work.
during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War
. He created the Chicago-based organization known as Bangladesh Emergency Welfare Appeal.
structure that had "dominated tall building design and construction so long was not the only system fitting for tall buildings", marking "the beginning of a new era of skyscraper
revolution in terms of multiple structural system
s." Khan's design innovations significantly improved the construction of high-rise buildings, enabling them to withstand enormous forces generated on these super structures. These new designs opened an economic door for contractors, engineers, architects, and investors, providing vast amounts of real estate space on minimal plots of land.
was the idea of the "tube" structural system
for tall buildings, including the "framed tube", "trussed tube" and "bundled tube" variations. His "tube concept," using "all the exterior wall perimeter structure of a building to simulate a thin-walled tube, revolutionized tall building design." The constructions of most supertall skyscrapers since the 1960s, including the construction of the World Trade Center
, Petronas Towers and Jin Mao Building
, employ a tube structural system.
s, joined at or near their edges to form a vertical tube-like structural system capable of resisting lateral forces in any direction by cantilevering from the foundation." Closely spaced interconnected exterior columns form the tube. Horizontal loads, for example from wind and earthquakes, are supported by the structure as a whole. About half the exterior surface is available for windows. Framed tubes allow fewer interior columns, and so create more usable floor space. The bundled tube structure is more efficient for tall buildings, lessening the penalty for height. The structural system also allows the interior columns to be smaller and the core of the building to be free of braced frames or shear walls that use up valuable floor space. Where larger openings like garage doors are required, the tube frame must be interrupted, with transfer girders used to maintain structural integrity.
The first building to apply the tube-frame construction was the DeWitt-Chestnut Apartments
building that Khan designed and was completed in Chicago
in 1963. This laid the foundations for the framed tube structure used in the construction of the World Trade Center
.
, or the "trussed tube", first employed for the John Hancock Center
. This concept reduced the lateral load on the building by transferring the load into the exterior columns. This allows for a reduced need for interior columns thus creating more floor space. This concept can be seen in the John Hancock Center, designed in 1965 and completed in 1969. One of the most famous buildings of the structural expressionist style, the skyscraper's distinctive X-bracing exterior is actually a hint that the structure's skin is indeed part of its 'tubular system'. This idea is one of the architectural techniques the building used to climb to record heights (the tubular system is essentially the spine that helps the building stand upright during wind and earthquake loads
). This X-bracing allows for both higher performance from tall structures and the ability to open up the inside floorplan (and usable floor space) if the architect desires. Original features such as the skin, pioneered by Fazlur Khan, have made the John Hancock Center an architectural icon.
In contrast to earlier steel-frame
structures, such as the Empire State Building
(1931), which required about 206 kilograms of steel per square metre and Chase Manhattan Bank Building
(1961), which required around 275 kilograms of steel per square metre, the John Hancock Center was far more efficient, requiring only 145 kilograms of steel per square metre. The trussed tube concept was applied to many later skyscrapers, including the Onterie Center
, Citigroup Center
and Bank of China Tower.
and One Magnificent Mile
. The bundle tube design was not only the most efficient in economic terms, but it was also "innovative in its potential for versatile formulation of architectural space. Efficient towers no longer had to be box-like; the tube-units could take on various shapes and could be bundled together in different sorts of groupings."
and Onterie Center
in Chicago, which employed his bundled tube and trussed tube system designs respectively. In contrast to his earlier buildings, which were mainly steel
, his last two buildings were concrete
. His earlier DeWitt-Chestnut Apartments building, built in 1963 in Chicago, was also a concrete building with a tube structure.
, Petronas Towers, Jin Mao Building
, and most other supertall skyscrapers since the 1960s. The strong influence of tube structure design is also evident in the world's current tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai
. According to Stephen Bayley of The Daily Telegraph
:
, Petronas Twin Towers
and Taipei 101
. The 44th-floor sky lobby of the John Hancock Center also features the first high-rise indoor swimming pool
, which remains the highest in America. This was the first time that people could have the opportunity to work and live "in the sky".
IABSE; the AIA Institute Honor for Distinguished Achievement (1983) from the American Institute of Architects; and the John Parmer Award (1987) from Structural Engineers Association of Illinois (Engineering Legends, Richard Weingardt).
, Saudi Arabia. He was only 53. He was a general partner in SOM
, the only engineer holding that high position at the time. His body was returned to the USA and was buried in Chicago.
Structural engineer
Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants...
. He is a central figure behind the "Second Chicago School
Chicago school (architecture)
Chicago's architecture is famous throughout the world and one style is referred to as the Chicago School. The style is also known as Commercial style. In the history of architecture, the Chicago School was a school of architects active in Chicago at the turn of the 20th century...
" of architecture, and is regarded as the "Father of tubular design
Tube (structure)
In structural engineering, the tube is the name given to the systems where in order to resist lateral loads a building is designed to act like a three-dimensional hollow tube, cantilevered perpendicular to the ground. The system was introduced by Fazlur Rahman Khan while at Skidmore, Owings and...
for high-rises". Khan, "more than any other individual, ushered in a renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
in skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
construction during the second half of the twentieth century." He has been called the "Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
of structural engineering
Structural engineering
Structural engineering is a field of engineering dealing with the analysis and design of structures that support or resist loads. Structural engineering is usually considered a specialty within civil engineering, but it can also be studied in its own right....
" and the "Greatest Structural Engineer of the 20th Century" for his innovative use of structural system
Structural system
The term structural system or structural frame in structural engineering refers to load-resisting sub-system of a structure. The structural system transfers loads through interconnected structural components or members.-High-rise buildings:...
s that remain fundamental to modern skyscraper construction
Skyscraper design and construction
The design and construction of skyscrapers involves creating safe, habitable spaces in very tall buildings. The buildings must support their weight, resist wind and earthquakes, and protect occupants from fire. Yet they must also be conveniently accessible, even on the upper floors, and provide...
. His most famous buildings are the John Hancock Center
John Hancock Center
John Hancock Center at 875 North Michigan Avenue in the Streeterville area of Chicago, Illinois, is a 100-story, 1,127-foot tall skyscraper, constructed under the supervision of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, with chief designer Bruce Graham and structural engineer Fazlur Khan...
and the Willis Tower (formerly Sears Tower), which was the world's tallest building for several decades.
Biography
Fazlur Rahman Khan is from the village of Bhandarikandi in Shibchar UpazilaShibchar Upazila
Shibchar is an Upazila of Madaripur District in the Division of Dhaka, Bangladesh.-Geography:Shibchar is located at . It has 58085 units of house hold and total area 321.88 km².-Demographics:...
, Madaripur District
Madaripur District
Madaripur is a district in central Bangladesh. It is a part of the Dhaka Division.-History of Madaripur:Madaripur subdivision was established in 1854 under the district of Bakerganj. In 1873 it was separated from Bakerganj and annexed to Faridpur district. Madaripur subdivision was turned into a...
, Dhaka Division, Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
. He was born on 3 April 1929, in Dhaka. His father, Khan Bahadur Abdur Rahman Khan, BES was ADPI of Bengal and after retirement served as Principal of Jagannath College, Dhaka.
Education
Khan received his bachelors degree from Bengal Engineering and Science University (BESU). He received a Fulbright Scholarship and a Pakistani government scholarship (as Bangladesh was East Pakistan then) enabled him to travel to the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1952 where he pursued advanced studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
. He was able to travel because he finally had enough money. In three years Khan earned two Master's degrees — one in structural engineering
Structural engineering
Structural engineering is a field of engineering dealing with the analysis and design of structures that support or resist loads. Structural engineering is usually considered a specialty within civil engineering, but it can also be studied in its own right....
and one in theoretical and applied mechanics — and a PhD
PHD
PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...
in structural engineering
Structural engineering
Structural engineering is a field of engineering dealing with the analysis and design of structures that support or resist loads. Structural engineering is usually considered a specialty within civil engineering, but it can also be studied in its own right....
.
Career
In 1955, employed by Skidmore, Owings and MerrillSkidmore, Owings and Merrill
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP is an American architectural and engineering firm that was formed in Chicago in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings; in 1939 they were joined by John O. Merrill. They opened their first branch in New York City, New York in 1937. SOM is one of the largest...
, he began working in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. He was made a partner in 1966 and became a naturalized American citizen in 1967. During the 1960s and 1970s, he became noted for his designs for Chicago’s 100-story John Hancock Center
John Hancock Center
John Hancock Center at 875 North Michigan Avenue in the Streeterville area of Chicago, Illinois, is a 100-story, 1,127-foot tall skyscraper, constructed under the supervision of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, with chief designer Bruce Graham and structural engineer Fazlur Khan...
and 108-story Sears Tower
Sears Tower
Sears' optimistic growth projections were not met. Competition from its traditional rivals continued, with new competition by retailing giants such as Kmart, Kohl's, and Wal-Mart. The fortunes of Sears & Roebuck declined in the 1970s as the company lost market share; its management grew more...
, the tallest building in the world in its time and still the tallest in the United States since its completion in 1974. He is also responsible for designing notable buildings in Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
and Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...
.
Fazlur Khan's personal papers, the majority of which were found in his office at the time of his death, are held by the Ryerson & Burnham Libraries
Ryerson & Burnham
The Ryerson & Burnham Libraries are the art and architecture research collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. The libraries cover all periods with extensive holdings in the areas of 18th, 19th and 20th century architecture and 19th century painting, prints, drawings, and decorative arts...
at the Art Institute of Chicago
Art Institute of Chicago
The School of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of America's largest accredited independent schools of art and design, located in the Loop in Chicago, Illinois. It is associated with the museum of the same name, and "The Art Institute of Chicago" or "Chicago Art Institute" often refers to either...
. The Fazlur Khan Collection includes manuscripts, sketches, audio cassette tapes, slides and other materials regarding his work.
Personal interests
Outside of work, Khan enjoyed spending time with his family (wife Liselotte and daughter Yasmin). He enjoyed singing, poetry, and table tennis. He was also heavily involved with creating public opinion and garnering emergency funding for Bengali peopleBengali people
The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...
during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War
Bangladesh Liberation War
The Bangladesh Liberation War was an armed conflict pitting East Pakistan and India against West Pakistan. The war resulted in the secession of East Pakistan, which became the independent nation of Bangladesh....
. He created the Chicago-based organization known as Bangladesh Emergency Welfare Appeal.
Innovations
Khan realized that the rigid steel frameSteel frame
Steel frame usually refers to a building technique with a "skeleton frame" of vertical steel columns and horizontal -beams, constructed in a rectangular grid to support the floors, roof and walls of a building which are all attached to the frame...
structure that had "dominated tall building design and construction so long was not the only system fitting for tall buildings", marking "the beginning of a new era of skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
revolution in terms of multiple structural system
Structural system
The term structural system or structural frame in structural engineering refers to load-resisting sub-system of a structure. The structural system transfers loads through interconnected structural components or members.-High-rise buildings:...
s." Khan's design innovations significantly improved the construction of high-rise buildings, enabling them to withstand enormous forces generated on these super structures. These new designs opened an economic door for contractors, engineers, architects, and investors, providing vast amounts of real estate space on minimal plots of land.
Tube structural systems
Khan's central innovation in skyscraper design and constructionSkyscraper design and construction
The design and construction of skyscrapers involves creating safe, habitable spaces in very tall buildings. The buildings must support their weight, resist wind and earthquakes, and protect occupants from fire. Yet they must also be conveniently accessible, even on the upper floors, and provide...
was the idea of the "tube" structural system
Tube (structure)
In structural engineering, the tube is the name given to the systems where in order to resist lateral loads a building is designed to act like a three-dimensional hollow tube, cantilevered perpendicular to the ground. The system was introduced by Fazlur Rahman Khan while at Skidmore, Owings and...
for tall buildings, including the "framed tube", "trussed tube" and "bundled tube" variations. His "tube concept," using "all the exterior wall perimeter structure of a building to simulate a thin-walled tube, revolutionized tall building design." The constructions of most supertall skyscrapers since the 1960s, including the construction of the World Trade Center
Construction of the World Trade Center
The construction of the World Trade Center was conceived as an urban renewal project, spearheaded by David Rockefeller, to help revitalize Lower Manhattan. The project was developed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which hired architect Minoru Yamasaki who came up with the specific...
, Petronas Towers and Jin Mao Building
Jin Mao Building
The Jin Mao Tower is an 88-story landmark supertall skyscraper in the Lujiazui area of the Pudong district of Shanghai, People's Republic of China. It contains offices and the Shanghai Grand Hyatt hotel. Until 2007 it was the tallest building in the PRC, the fifth tallest in the world by roof...
, employ a tube structural system.
Framed tube
Since 1963, the new structural system of framed tubes became highly influential in skyscraper design and construction. Khan defined the framed tube structure as "a three dimensional space structure composed of three, four, or possibly more frames, braced frames, or shear wallShear wall
In structural engineering, a shear wall is a wall composed of braced panels to counter the effects of lateral load acting on a structure. Wind and earthquake loads are the most common loads braced wall lines are designed to counteract...
s, joined at or near their edges to form a vertical tube-like structural system capable of resisting lateral forces in any direction by cantilevering from the foundation." Closely spaced interconnected exterior columns form the tube. Horizontal loads, for example from wind and earthquakes, are supported by the structure as a whole. About half the exterior surface is available for windows. Framed tubes allow fewer interior columns, and so create more usable floor space. The bundled tube structure is more efficient for tall buildings, lessening the penalty for height. The structural system also allows the interior columns to be smaller and the core of the building to be free of braced frames or shear walls that use up valuable floor space. Where larger openings like garage doors are required, the tube frame must be interrupted, with transfer girders used to maintain structural integrity.
The first building to apply the tube-frame construction was the DeWitt-Chestnut Apartments
Plaza on DeWitt
The Plaza on DeWitt was completed in 1966 as a residential apartment building at 260 E. Chestnut Street in the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago. It was converted to condominiums in 1975. On the ground floor, a French bistro, Le Petit Paris, formerly Zaven's, serves traditional French cuisine...
building that Khan designed and was completed in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
in 1963. This laid the foundations for the framed tube structure used in the construction of the World Trade Center
Construction of the World Trade Center
The construction of the World Trade Center was conceived as an urban renewal project, spearheaded by David Rockefeller, to help revitalize Lower Manhattan. The project was developed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which hired architect Minoru Yamasaki who came up with the specific...
.
Trussed tube and X-bracing
Khan pioneered several other variations of the tube structure design. One of these was the concept of X-bracingX-bracing
X-bracing is a structural engineering innovation developed by Fazlur Khan. This concept reduces the lateral load on the building by transferring the load into the exterior columns. This allows for a reduced need for interior columns thus creating more floor space. This concept can be seen in the...
, or the "trussed tube", first employed for the John Hancock Center
John Hancock Center
John Hancock Center at 875 North Michigan Avenue in the Streeterville area of Chicago, Illinois, is a 100-story, 1,127-foot tall skyscraper, constructed under the supervision of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, with chief designer Bruce Graham and structural engineer Fazlur Khan...
. This concept reduced the lateral load on the building by transferring the load into the exterior columns. This allows for a reduced need for interior columns thus creating more floor space. This concept can be seen in the John Hancock Center, designed in 1965 and completed in 1969. One of the most famous buildings of the structural expressionist style, the skyscraper's distinctive X-bracing exterior is actually a hint that the structure's skin is indeed part of its 'tubular system'. This idea is one of the architectural techniques the building used to climb to record heights (the tubular system is essentially the spine that helps the building stand upright during wind and earthquake loads
Seismic loading
Seismic loading is one of the basic concepts of earthquake engineering which means application of an earthquake-generated agitation to a structure...
). This X-bracing allows for both higher performance from tall structures and the ability to open up the inside floorplan (and usable floor space) if the architect desires. Original features such as the skin, pioneered by Fazlur Khan, have made the John Hancock Center an architectural icon.
In contrast to earlier steel-frame
Steel frame
Steel frame usually refers to a building technique with a "skeleton frame" of vertical steel columns and horizontal -beams, constructed in a rectangular grid to support the floors, roof and walls of a building which are all attached to the frame...
structures, such as the Empire State Building
Empire State Building
The Empire State Building is a 102-story landmark skyscraper and American cultural icon in New York City at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet , and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft high. Its name is derived...
(1931), which required about 206 kilograms of steel per square metre and Chase Manhattan Bank Building
Chase Manhattan Bank Building
The Chase Manhattan Bank Building is a 14-story office building located at Queens Plaza in Long Island City, Queens, New York City. It was completed in 1927 and was the tallest office building in Queens until the completion of the Citicorp Building in 1990...
(1961), which required around 275 kilograms of steel per square metre, the John Hancock Center was far more efficient, requiring only 145 kilograms of steel per square metre. The trussed tube concept was applied to many later skyscrapers, including the Onterie Center
Onterie Center
The Onterie Center is a sixty-story award-winning high rise in downtown Chicago, IL. It is located at 441 East Erie St, and takes its name from a conflation of "Ontario" and "Erie", the streets at its two entrances....
, Citigroup Center
Citigroup Center
The Citigroup Center is one of the ten tallest skyscrapers in New York City, United States, located at 53rd Street between Lexington Avenue and Third Avenue in midtown Manhattan...
and Bank of China Tower.
Bundle tube
One of Khan's most important variations of the tube structure concept was the "bundled tube," which he used for the Sears TowerSears Tower
Sears' optimistic growth projections were not met. Competition from its traditional rivals continued, with new competition by retailing giants such as Kmart, Kohl's, and Wal-Mart. The fortunes of Sears & Roebuck declined in the 1970s as the company lost market share; its management grew more...
and One Magnificent Mile
One Magnificent Mile
One Magnificent Mile is a mixed-use high-rise tower completed in 1983 at the northern end of Michigan Avenue on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago containing upscale retailers on the ground floor, followed by office space above that & luxury condominium apartments on top.Height: 673 ft / 205 m Total...
. The bundle tube design was not only the most efficient in economic terms, but it was also "innovative in its potential for versatile formulation of architectural space. Efficient towers no longer had to be box-like; the tube-units could take on various shapes and could be bundled together in different sorts of groupings."
Concrete tube structures
The last major buildings engineered by Khan were the One Magnificent MileOne Magnificent Mile
One Magnificent Mile is a mixed-use high-rise tower completed in 1983 at the northern end of Michigan Avenue on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago containing upscale retailers on the ground floor, followed by office space above that & luxury condominium apartments on top.Height: 673 ft / 205 m Total...
and Onterie Center
Onterie Center
The Onterie Center is a sixty-story award-winning high rise in downtown Chicago, IL. It is located at 441 East Erie St, and takes its name from a conflation of "Ontario" and "Erie", the streets at its two entrances....
in Chicago, which employed his bundled tube and trussed tube system designs respectively. In contrast to his earlier buildings, which were mainly steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
, his last two buildings were concrete
Concrete
Concrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
. His earlier DeWitt-Chestnut Apartments building, built in 1963 in Chicago, was also a concrete building with a tube structure.
Influence
The influence of Khan's tube structure design can be seen in numerous buildings built since the 1960s. Tube structures have since been used in many skyscrapers, including the construction of the World Trade CenterConstruction of the World Trade Center
The construction of the World Trade Center was conceived as an urban renewal project, spearheaded by David Rockefeller, to help revitalize Lower Manhattan. The project was developed by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which hired architect Minoru Yamasaki who came up with the specific...
, Petronas Towers, Jin Mao Building
Jin Mao Building
The Jin Mao Tower is an 88-story landmark supertall skyscraper in the Lujiazui area of the Pudong district of Shanghai, People's Republic of China. It contains offices and the Shanghai Grand Hyatt hotel. Until 2007 it was the tallest building in the PRC, the fifth tallest in the world by roof...
, and most other supertall skyscrapers since the 1960s. The strong influence of tube structure design is also evident in the world's current tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
. According to Stephen Bayley of The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
:
Sky lobby
The first sky lobby was also designed by Khan for the John Hancock Center. Later buildings with sky lobbies include the World Trade CenterWorld Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
, Petronas Twin Towers
Petronas Twin Towers
The Petronas Towers are skyscrapers and twin towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia...
and Taipei 101
Taipei 101
Taipei 101 , formerly known as the Taipei World Financial Center, is a landmark skyscraper located in Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan. The building ranked officially as the world's tallest from 2004 until the opening of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai in 2010...
. The 44th-floor sky lobby of the John Hancock Center also features the first high-rise indoor swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
, which remains the highest in America. This was the first time that people could have the opportunity to work and live "in the sky".
List of buildings
Some the most famous buildings Khan was responsible for performing as structural engineer include the following:- DeWitt-Chestnut Apartments, ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, 1963 - John Hancock CenterJohn Hancock CenterJohn Hancock Center at 875 North Michigan Avenue in the Streeterville area of Chicago, Illinois, is a 100-story, 1,127-foot tall skyscraper, constructed under the supervision of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, with chief designer Bruce Graham and structural engineer Fazlur Khan...
, Chicago, 1965–1969 - Sears TowerSears TowerSears' optimistic growth projections were not met. Competition from its traditional rivals continued, with new competition by retailing giants such as Kmart, Kohl's, and Wal-Mart. The fortunes of Sears & Roebuck declined in the 1970s as the company lost market share; its management grew more...
, Chicago, 1970–1973 - Hajj Terminal, King Abdulaziz International AirportKing Abdulaziz International AirportKing Abdulaziz International Airport is an aviation facility located 19 km to the north of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Named after King Abdulaziz Al Saud, the airport is Saudi Arabia's third largest air facility and busiest airport by passenger. The airport occupies an area of 15 square kilometers...
, JeddahJeddahJeddah, Jiddah, Jidda, or Jedda is a city located on the coast of the Red Sea and is the major urban center of western Saudi Arabia. It is the largest city in Makkah Province, the largest sea port on the Red Sea, and the second largest city in Saudi Arabia after the capital city, Riyadh. The...
, 1974–1980 - King Abdulaziz UniversityKing Abdulaziz UniversityKing Abdulaziz University was founded in 1967 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Designed by English architect John Elliott, it had 2,000 teachers and more than 37,000 students in 2000/2001....
, Jeddah, 1977–1978 - One Magnificent MileOne Magnificent MileOne Magnificent Mile is a mixed-use high-rise tower completed in 1983 at the northern end of Michigan Avenue on the Magnificent Mile in Chicago containing upscale retailers on the ground floor, followed by office space above that & luxury condominium apartments on top.Height: 673 ft / 205 m Total...
, Chicago, completed 1983 - Onterie CenterOnterie CenterThe Onterie Center is a sixty-story award-winning high rise in downtown Chicago, IL. It is located at 441 East Erie St, and takes its name from a conflation of "Ontario" and "Erie", the streets at its two entrances....
, Chicago, completed 1986 - U.S. Bank Center, Milwaukee, 1973
Other honors
Among Khan's other accomplishments, he received the Wason Medal (1971) and Alfred Lindau Award (1973) from the American Concrete Institute (ACI); the Thomas Middlebrooks Award (1972) and the Ernest Howard Award (1977) from ASCE; the Kimbrough Medal (1973) from the American Institute of Steel Construction; the Oscar Faber medal (1973) from the Institution of Structural Engineers, London; the International Award of Merit in Structural Engineering (1983) from the International Association for Bridge and Structural EngineeringInternational Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering
The International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering is a non-profit organisation with mission to promote the exchange of knowledge and to advance the practice of structural engineering worldwide in the service of the profession and society, taking into consideration technical,...
IABSE; the AIA Institute Honor for Distinguished Achievement (1983) from the American Institute of Architects; and the John Parmer Award (1987) from Structural Engineers Association of Illinois (Engineering Legends, Richard Weingardt).
Death
Khan died of a heart attack on March 27, 1982 while on a trip in JeddahJeddah
Jeddah, Jiddah, Jidda, or Jedda is a city located on the coast of the Red Sea and is the major urban center of western Saudi Arabia. It is the largest city in Makkah Province, the largest sea port on the Red Sea, and the second largest city in Saudi Arabia after the capital city, Riyadh. The...
, Saudi Arabia. He was only 53. He was a general partner in SOM
Som
Som may refer to:* Som * Som, Uttar Pradesh, India* Som, slang for sommelier* Som, an alternative name for the Hungarian wine grape Furmint* Som , a Bengali Indian surname...
, the only engineer holding that high position at the time. His body was returned to the USA and was buried in Chicago.
Further reading
- Weingardt, Richard G. "Engineering Legends: Great American Civil Engineers." ASCE Press, 2005.
- Khan, Y. S. "Engineering Architecture: the vision of Fazlur R. Khan." New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2004.