An exploration of the outstanding work of four Swiss engineers and their teachers who form an impressive group of structural artists in the 20th century: Wilhelm Ritter (1847-1906); Robert Maillart (1872-1940); Othmar Ammann (1879-1965); Pierre Lardy (1902-1956); Heinz Isler (b. 1926); and Christian Menn (b. 1927). David Billington, who has written widely on these engineers, argues that it is important to consider them as artists, for aesthetics played a major role in their design philosophy. He explains that their shared approach to design was developed while they attended the Federal Technological Institute in Zurich: Maillart and Amman studied with Ritter there, and Isler and Menn studied under Lardy. Billington focuses on the engineers' artistic approach to bridge design and construction, and he discusses their impressive individual contributions to structural engineering. This volume features many newly commissioned photographs, including images of important new structures such as the Charles River Bridge in Boston, completed by Menn in 2002.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From the Publisher
The volume accompanies an exhibition at the Princeton University Art Museum from March 8 to June 15, 2002 (other venues to be announced). Distributed for the Princeton University Art Museum
About the Author
David P. Billington is Gordon Y.S. Wu Professor of Engineering in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and director of the Programme in Architecture and Engineering at Princeton University.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Nice pictures... but not really any technical data...,
A Kid's Review
This review is from: The Art of Structural Design: A Swiss Legacy (Hardcover)
DISCLAIMER: I'm not a kid, I'm just too lazy to bother making an account just to write a review. I mean, come on, that's what this "kid's review" option is really for, isn't it?
THE REVIEW: This book contains many good photographs of notable bridges designed by Swiss structural engineers, but it's a tad light on providing any technical data... overall, this book's good for looking at bridges from an artistic, design-oriented point of view, but isn't particularly useful if you're, say, trying to DRAW A SCALE DIAGRAM OF A BRIDGE IN THIS BOOK AND YOU WERE TOLD TO BUY THIS BOOK FOR YOUR UNIVERSITY ENGINEERING COURSE because it lacks concrete facts about spans, drapes, or other distances that would be useful. Not a bad book at all; quite good, actually, but not very useful for technical analysis. That salginatobel bridge pops up all over the place, eh?
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
Rarely does a new art form emerge to challenge old ideas about artistic boundaries. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
hanging membrane, structural artists, congested load, roadway slab, graphic statics, deflection theory, tension ties, pure compression, bridge design, live load, moment diagram Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Port Authority, Hell Gate, Wilhelm Ritter, George Washington Bridge, United States, Heinz Isler, Robert Maillart, Hudson River, Fort Lee, New Jersey, Salginatobel Bridge, Pierre Lardy, Othmar Ammann, Staten Island, Sunniberg Bridge, Bayonne Bridge, Christian Menn, Max Ritter, Tavanasa Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge, Felsenau Bridge, Ganter Bridge, Stauffacher Bridge, Charles River New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Rarely does a new art form emerge to challenge old ideas about artistic boundaries. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
hanging membrane, structural artists, congested load, roadway slab, graphic statics, deflection theory, tension ties, pure compression, bridge design, live load, moment diagram Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, Port Authority, Hell Gate, Wilhelm Ritter, George Washington Bridge, United States, Heinz Isler, Robert Maillart, Hudson River, Fort Lee, New Jersey, Salginatobel Bridge, Pierre Lardy, Othmar Ammann, Staten Island, Sunniberg Bridge, Bayonne Bridge, Christian Menn, Max Ritter, Tavanasa Bridge, Brooklyn Bridge, Felsenau Bridge, Ganter Bridge, Stauffacher Bridge, Charles River New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 21
books:
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6
books
cite this book:
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- The Tower and the Bridge: The New Art of Structural Engineering by David P. Billington on 6 pages
- Homo Ludens: A Study of the Play-Element in Culture by Johan Huizinga on page 32, page 72, and page 162
- Robert Maillart: Builder, Designer, and Artist by David P. Billington on page 72, page 127, and Back Matter
- Prestressed Concrete Bridges by Christian Menn in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Empire on the Hudson by Jameson W. Doig on page 108, and page 110
See all 21 books this book cites
- Power, Speed, and Form: Engineers and the Making of the Twentieth Century by David P. Billington in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- The Bridges of New Jersey: Portraits of Garden State Crossings by Steven M. Richman in Back Matter
- New Generation Whole-Life Costing: Property and Construction Decision-Making Under Uncertainty by Ian Ellingham on page 6
- Eladio Dieste: Innovation in Structural Art by Stanford Anderson on page 103
- Engineering Legends: Great American Civil Engineers: (32 Profiles of Inspiration and Achievement) by Richard Weingardt in Back Matter
See all 6 books citing this book
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