54. Structure and Architecture with Tyler Sprague

“…what you build is in the real world, you can walk around it, you can kick it, you can hit it with you hand. It’s a physical part of the world you are also a part of,” …he saw [his buildings] as living creations. 

This week, we discuss thin shell concrete and the work of Jack Christiansen as "Sculpture On a Grand Scale" with structural engineer and University of Washington, Professor of architecture, Tyler Sprague.

Sculpture On a Grand Scale, University of Washington Press, 2019

Timestamp Outline

2:43  Why explore this intersection of architecture history and engineering?
3:42   Architects who also explore structural expression, Santiago Calatrava, Pier Nervi , Eero Saarinen and more contemporary offices like OMA
4:19   Why did you decide to be a historian? 
5:09 Tyler describes being inspired by a tower (Torre del Mangia) in Siena while on an undergraduate study abroad trip
6:19 Jack Christiansen’s love of climbing brought him to the Pacific Northwest, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Hood. He even witnessed the eruption of Mt. St. Helens from Mt. Hood. 
7:03  “Introduce us to [Jack Christiansen] as the person you discover”
7:26 Christiansen growing up in Oak Park, Illinois, surrounded by Frank Lloyd Wright homes 
7:47 His favorite novel growing up was Lost Horizon, by James Hilton, he wanted a life of adventure. 
8:53 Jack begins his studies at the University of Illinois in Structural Engineering and was one of the first engineers in the office of Perkins and Will 
11:35 Growing popularity of thin shell concrete, inspired by the work of Pier Nervi and Robert Maillart
12:35 The magic of thin shell 
15:25 Hyperbolic towers at Chandigarh 
15:52 Tyler describes how Christiansen was able to be so successful with thin shell. 
16:25 Christiansen’s shell for the Greenlake Pool, his first thin shell revealed the issues of construction efficiency when working with concrete this way. 
17:23 Saarinen’s Kresge Auditorium on MIT’s campus and it’s structural issues 
19:05 The rise of light weight structures, like those from Frei Otto 
20:18 Emergence of new work in structural engineering, like that of Peter Rice. Calatrava drawing inspiration from Felix Candela 
21:57 Tyler describes Christiansen’s particular, regional, expression of thin shell concrete while working with iconic Seattle Modernists like Paul Kirk and Fred Bassetti  and his proximity to Boeing 
25:13 The 1962 World’s Fair, and Christiansen’s work with Minoru Yamasaki on what is now the Pacific Science Center. They also collaborated on a project for Carleton College and a Synagogue in Glencoe, IL. 
30:20 The Kingdome, whose demolition was a national spectacle and devastating for Christiansen 
35:04 “…what you build is in the real world, you can walk around it, you can kick it, you can hit it with you hand. It’s a physical part of the world you are also a part of,” …he saw [his buildings] as living creations. 
37:15 Tyler discusses some of the issues with and surrounding the Kingdome that ultimately lead to it’s demolition 
43:09 How the Kingdome put Seattle on the national map, culturally speaking, bringing artists like Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones as well as making a home for the Seahawks and Mariners 
44:11 “It’s absolutely perfect for Seattle! It’s a stripped down stadium for the lumberjack city that we are!” - Royal Brougham 
47:09 “Do you see any future for thin shell?”
49:00 Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia tension only models vs Christiansen’s shells, which work in both tension and compression