The Tower and the Bridge: The New Art of Structural Engineering

by David P. Billington Jr.

Overview

An essential exploration of the engineering aesthetics of celebrated structures from long-span bridges to high-rise buildings

What do structures such as the Eiffel Tower, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the concrete roofs of Pier Luigi Nervi have in common? According to The Tower and the Bridge, all are striking examples of structural art, an exciting area distinct from either architecture or machine design. Aided by stunning photographs, David Billington discusses the technical concerns and artistic principles underpinning the well-known projects of leading structural engineer-artists, including Othmar Ammann, Félix Candela, Gustave Eiffel, Fazlur Khan, Robert Maillart, John Roebling, and many others. A classic work, The Tower and the Bridge introduces readers to the fundamental aesthetics of engineering.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691236926
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	05/17/2022
Series:	Princeton Science Library , #127
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

David P. Billington (1927–2018) was the Gordon Y. S. Wu Professor of Engineering Emeritus at Princeton University. His many books include Robert Maillart’s Bridges and Power, Speed, and Form (both Princeton).

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations ix

Preface xiii

Acknowledgments xvii

1 A New Tradition: Art in Engineering 3

A New Art Form

The Ideals of Structural Art

The History of Structural Art

Engineering and Science

Structures and Machines

Structures and Architecture

The Three Dimensions of Structure

Structural Art and Society

Part I The Age of Iron

2 Thomas Telford and the New Art Form 27

The Second Iron Age

Thomas Telford and Bridge Art

Telford and the Limits of Structure

Art and Politics

Telford's Aesthetic

Science and Engineering

3 Brunel, Stephenson, and Railway Forms 45

The Problem of Form

Robert Stephenson

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

The Tension Between Structural Art and Business

Brunel and Stephenson

4 Gustave Eiffel and the Crescent Bridge 60

The Tower and the Industrial Fair

Structure and Architecture

Gustave Eiffel

The 1851 Crystal Palace and the 1867 Paris Exhibition

Span and Tower

The First Crescent Bridge: Douro

The Second Crescent: Carabit

5 John Roebling and the Suspension Bridge 72

Brunel and Roebling

The Immigrant Engineer

Roebling at the Limit of Structure

The Ohio River Bridge

Roebling's Ideals

6 The Bridge and the Tower 84

Climax and Enlightenment

Function Follows Form

The Uncertainty of Cost

Economy and Creativity

Structural Art and the Artist

Preliminary Ideas on Structural Art

Part II The New Age of Steel and Concrete

7 Jenney, Root, and the First Chicago School 99

The Office Tower

The Gothic as Nostalgia

The Skyscraper and the Cathedral

The First Chicago School

William Le Baron Jenney

John Wellborn Root

Root and Sullivan

8 Big Steel Bridges from Eads to Ammann 112

Skyscrapers and Bridges

Chicago Versus St. Louis: The Eads Bridge

The Forth Bridge

The Transition: Gustav Lindenthal

The Hell Gate Bridge

Modern Steel Forms: Othmar Ammann

The George Washington Bridge

Science and Structure

Hell Gate and Bayonne

Two Visions: Ammann and Steinman

9 Robert Maillart and New Forms in Reinforced Concrete 147

Prototypical Twentieth-Century Material

German Science Versus French Business

The Swiss Synthesis

Robert Maillart

New Bridge Forms

New Building Forms

10 Roof Vaults and National Styles 171

Engineering Imagination and Local Vision

Dischinger, Finsterwalder, and the German School

Nervi and the Italian Tradition

The Spanish School: Gaudí, Torroja, and Candela

Candela and the Discipline of Thinness

11 The Directing Idea of Eugene Freyssinet 194

A New Material

Eugene Freyssinet

The Wilderness Origins of Prestressing

Le Veurdre and Arch Aesthetics

Thin-Shell Vaulting: Orly and Bagneux

Freyssinet and Maillart

12 Discipline and Play: New Vaults in Concrete 213

Form and Formula

Candela, Maillart, and the Aversion to Ugliness

The New Swiss Synthesis

Heinz Isler's Shells

Isler and Scientific Theory

13 New Towers, New Bridges 233

Competition and Play

Fazlur Khan and the Second Chicago School

Structural Expression in Tall Buildings

Concrete Towers

Steel Towers

Khan and Collaboration

The Highway Explosion

Christian Menn

From Felsenau to Ganter

Ganter Bridge Design

Democracy and Design

Epilogue: The Idea of Structure as Art 266

Design and Art

Designers and Artists

Notes 277

Index 295

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“Billington is clearly moved by great structures. . . . This is a book on structural engineering that sees its subject as part of the larger drama of history and culture, and for the breadth of this stance alone, it is impressive.”—Paul Goldberger, New York Times Book Review

“Elegant modern structures are often described as beautiful, and Billington, with the love of an artist, the patience of a historian, and the knowledge of a first-rate structuralist, has presented the achievements of the new age in a language of such lucidity and accuracy as to make them understandable to the interested layman.”—Mario Salvadori, American Scientist

Editorial Reviews

"David P. Billington is clearly moved by great structures—he means it when he says that major works of structural engineering are like the art of poetry, while architecture is the art of prose. . . . This is a book on structural engineering that sees its subject as part of the larger drama of history and culture, and for the breadth of this stance alone, it is impressive."

New York Times Book Review

David P. Billington is clearly moved by great structures—he means it when he says that major works of structural engineering are like the art of poetry, while architecture is the art of prose. . . . This is a book on structural engineering that sees its subject as part of the larger drama of history and culture, and for the breadth of this stance alone, it is impressive.

The New York Times Book Review

"David P. Billington is clearly moved by great structures—he means it when he says that major works of structural engineering are like the art of poetry, while architecture is the art of prose. . . . This is a book on structural engineering that sees its subject as part of the larger drama of history and culture, and for the breadth of this stance alone, it is impressive."—New York Times Book Review

From the Publisher