Ove Arup Essays - Knights Bachelor, Ove Arup, Structural Engineers

Ove Arup Sir Ove Nyquist Arup was a leading anglo-danish engineer, the founder of the internationally important firm Arup and generally considered to be one of the foremost engineers of his time. His career was defined and propelled by many of the major design, technological and economic developments of the 20th century: early experimentation with thin-shelled reinforced concrete structures and more recently the phenomenon of corporate globalisation of which the present day Arup engineering consultancy is a highly successful example. Ove?s career began when he completed his engineering studies in 1922, in which he specialised in reinforced concrete. He moved quickly up the ranks in his first job at Danish firm Christian and Nielsen, being appointed chief engineer towards the end of 1923. After a decade of solid work and increasing experience, he worked as a structural consultant to the Tecton partnership (working alongside another important senior engineer Berthold Lubetkin), in which he most notably worked on Highpoint one in Highgate. Highpoint one was an important experiment in high-rise residential design, and was one of Arup?s most significant collaborations with Lubetkin. Arup later criticised the project as having significant flaws. He moved next to a London construction company, J.L Kier and Co in London, as director and chief designer from 1934-1938 and also became a member of the executive committee of the MARS group in 1935. In 1938, with his cousin Arne Arup, he founded Arup and Arup Limited which was a firm of engineers and contractors. Arup?s reputation as a competent engineer was well and truly swelling at this point and he was appointed on the air raid precautions committee prior to World War Two. World War Two provided a world of opportunity for Arup to flex his engineering muscle. He published a number of papers on shelter policy and designs due to the constant bombings by the German Luftwaffe on England. They mainly advocated reinforced concrete mass shelters, rather than the government policy of dispersing the population in small domestic shelters. Largely for political reasons, most of his recommendations were never adopted, although some wealthy Londoners were able to build concrete shelters according to his design. He also played a small role in the all important allied D-day landings in which he designed the temporary harbours. In 1946, Ove dissolved Arup and Arup Ltd and created a team of civil and structural engineering consultants. A further company, Arup Associates, was formed in 1963 as a new partnership with a body of engineers and architects working on an equal basis as building designers which is the crux of the modern day company Arup. It is a multi-disciplinary company providing engineering, architectural, and other services for the built environment. The company?s first project was Durham?s Kingsgate Bridge in which Ove Arup personally supervised the design and construction. Being the firm?s first bridge, Arup was particularly attached to the project and had his ashes scattered from it following his death. However, Arup?s most famous structure would have to be the Sydney Opera House in which he was the design engineer from 1957 until its completion in 1973. An iconic building making groundbreaking use of precast concrete, structural glue and computer analysis made Arup?s reputation despite the extreme difficult working relation ship with the architect, Jorn utzon. In conclusion, the Sydney Opera House offered Ove the supreme opportunity for the integration of his artistic vision and technical innovation. It was an excellent example in showcasing how he engineered solutions intuitively and then proved them mathematically. ?Bibliography HTTP://EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG/WIKI/OVE_ARUP ACCESSED 19TH OCTOBER HTTP://WWW.DHUB.ORG/ARTICLES/830 ACCESSED 19TH OCTOBER WWW.OVEARUPFOUNDATION.ORG/ABOUTUS/ABOUTOVEARUP.HTML ACCESSED 19TH OCTOBER