Book & Author
Professor Dr Mir Ali: Art of Skyscraper — The Genius of Fazlur Rahman Khan
Dr Ahmed S. Khan
Chicago, IL
Dr Fazlur Rahman Khan was one of the greatest structural engineers of the twentieth century. His contributions and innovative approach to tall building design and attention to aesthetic detail to the field have been so significant that he has been called ``the Einstein of structural engineering” and “the father of modern skyscrapers.” For his contributions to the field, he has not only received the highest international awards for engineering but also recognized for his architectural creativity. To honor this world-famous engineer a chair has been established in Dr Khan’s name at Lehigh University; the Structural Engineers Association, Illinois, has installed a Khan Sculpture in Sears Tower; and the city of Chicago has named one of the streets in downtown Chicago “Fazlur R. Khan Way.” Had there been a Nobel prize in engineering, he surely would have won it.
Dr Fazlur Rahman Khan revolutionized the construction of tall building by inventing “braced tube” and “bundled tube” structural systems which made it possible to construct the 100-story John Hancock Center and the110-Story Sears Tower in Chicago (a building so tall that it needed Federal Aviation Administration approval before the construction could commence). Dr Khan’s structural system inventions play a fundamental role in the design of modern high rise buildings. His efforts were not only limited to structural engineering but also played an important role in the form and architecture of the building he worked on.
In Art of the Skyscraper: The Genius of Fazlur Khan, Professor Dr Mir M. Ali presents a vivid portrait of Fazlur Rahman Khan (1929-1982). In sixteen chapters spread over 240 pages, the author has done a marvelous job of telling the story of a highly technical man in both technical and non-technical manners. Dr Ali covers different phases of Dr Khan’s life: from his birth in Dhaka (April 3, 1929) to graduation in Civil engineering from University of Dhaka (1950); from coming to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for graduate studies on a scholarship (1952) to the completion of two Master of Science degrees in Civil engineering and Theoretical and Applied Mechanics and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Civil engineering (1955); from working for Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) Chicago(1955) to returning to Pakistan (1957); from working as Executive Engineer with Karachi Development Authority in Pakistan (1957-60) to marrying Liselotte Anna Olga Turba and returning to Chicago to join SOM (1960); from working as Project Engineer, Associate Partner, and Partner at SOM, Chicago (1962-82) to teaching in the School of Architecture, Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), Chicago (1962-82); and, from going for Hajj to Mecca (1976) to his death in Jeddah ( March 27, 1982).
Dr Mir. M. Ali is uniquely qualified to tell the story of Dr F R Khan. He is a professional structural engineer and professor emeritus at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA. He grew up in a small town of Patuakhali in coastal Bangladesh, got his college education and work experience in Dhaka, and then travelled to Canada and the United States, where he earned his graduate studies and gained work experience to become a leading structural engineer of the world; and in the process befriended Fazlur Rehman Khan and worked with him in Chicago on some tall building projects at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), an organization considered as a leader in the design of skyscrapers.
Reflecting on the reasons that Dr Khan selected the University of Illinois for pursuing graduate studies, Professor Ali writes: “Fazlur Rahman Khan went to University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign in 1952 to pursue graduate studies in structural engineering. He was attracted to this institution because of its reputation worldwide in the field of engineering. This reputation was due to names of renowned people like Hardy Cross, Thomas Shedd, N.M. Newmark, and Ralph Peck…Khan departed for Urbana-Champaign from Dhaka, an old city in the heart of Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan). He had studied engineering at Bengal Engineering College Calcutta, India, and moved to Dhaka after the creation of East Pakistan…It is not known how Khan got admission to the University of Illinois, since it was extremely competitive for foreigners --- particularly for those coming from a new country like Pakistan…”(p.20).
The author provides an account of the academic brilliance of Dr Khan, specifically how he completed three graduate degrees in a short span of three years. Professor Ali writes: “Khan got enough course credit by taking courses in both civil engineering and theoretical and applied mechanics simultaneously to get two master’s degrees in two years. He completed his Ph.D. thesis in the very short time of one year after that. When Siess (Khan’s adviser) was asked about how Khan managed to get three graduate degrees in three years and how the Civil Engineering Department allowed that to happen, he replied, “Faz was unusually brilliant, and we could make an exception for someone like him” (p.24).
Professor Ali has also included a number of examples of Dr Khan’s contribution to the field of structural engineering, providing technical details with relevant background information. The author presents a detailed description of Dr Khan’s “braced tube” and “bundled tube” approaches which are widely known in the field of advanced structural analyses. The author also discusses some of his contributions that are significant but not well known to the general public. Regarding Dr Khan’s contributions for designing building in seismic zones, the author writes: “ A further innovation by Khan, and something that is not as well known, is his original concept of dissipating energy as the lower story of buildings in seismic zones…He thought of a shock-absorbing soft-story concept in which “stability wall,” neoprene pads, and deformable cables would be used in the lowest most level in a predetermined fashion such that during an earthquake the lower level would dissipate energy and isolate the upper floors from any damage…Thus designing the entire building to resist high earthquake forces, the bottom story of building is allowed to distort with earthquake, thereby screening out most of the forces there. The upper part of the structure remains unaffected and behaves as an elastic system, whereas the lower story behaves as an elasto-plastic bilinear system…Following an earthquake in Yugoslavia in the 1960s, he saw a few damaged buildings where the bottom story was excessively deformed. This triggered the idea of a shock-absorbing lower-story in his mind..”
In the process of writing the book, Professor Ali interviewed a number of Dr Khan’s colleagues, friends and advisers and included their impressions about Dr Khan’s abilities. Commenting on Dr Khan’s abilities, his co-adviser for graduate studies, Narbey Khachaturian, recalled: ““He (Khan) was a universal man, a man who would look at all aspects --- social, architectural, aesthetic, you name it – the entire universe. Khan was also a very good and perceptive listener. He could grasp very quickly what you would tell him. He had that unusual mental ability.”
Professor Mir Ali reveals that Dr Khan was aware of the fact that his success was not solely due to his own genius and expertise, but also due to the help and collaboration of his associates, fellow architects and engineers. In 1981, Dr Fazlur Rahman Khan, paid tribute to his advisor for his success and innovations. He said: “It is not always easy to pin-point the most important reason for my occasional successes in innovations…I have come to realize that three years I spent at the University of Illinois first under the advisership of Thomas Shedd, but more significantly under the research environment and advisership of Chester Siess have indeed been the most significant and responsible factors in shaping my attitudes and approach to structural design” (p.20).
Dr Khan was far more than an innovative structural engineer; he was also a philosopher, a thinker and a humanitarian. His designs not only reflect technical innovations, but also meet the local demands and cultural expectations. He paid attention to the minute details of his designs. Commenting on his own thinking process about design, Dr Khan said: “when thinking design, I put myself in the place of a whole building, feeling every part. In my mind I visualize the stresses and twisting a building undergoes.” Dr Khan also made sure that his designs were people-friendly too, he placed people first because people were so close to his heart. In this regard, the author has reproduced a comment by Engineering News-Record (1972): “Invariably, when Khan lectures on high-rise buildings, he first goes through a brief slide-supplemented history of tall buildings, and then explains the details of some of his innovations. Suddenly, shots of crowded, smog-covered Chicago and New York City appear on the screen. Khan then cuts to shots of buildings with tree-filled, people-filled plazas. While this is going on Khan expounds on how designers have to face up to urban problems and let their consciences push them in that direction.”
Professor Ali has also presented the other facets of Dr Khan’s personality: a philosopher, a thinker, an educator, and a prolific writer. He had a keen interest in the people, art and literature.
Dr Fazlur Rahman Khan has left behind a legacy of tall building design. In his design he believed in logic, truth, objectivity, and rationality. He practiced collaboration. His innovative ideas are present in the form of tall buildings in the major cities of the world today. One Magnificent Mile and Onterie Center, John Hancock Center, The Sears Tower, all in Chicago, World Trade Center, Hong Kong, and Hajj Terminal, Jeddah, are some of his best-known completed projects. The Hajj terminal of the King Abdul Aziz International Airport at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is the largest fabric roof structure. It comprises tents that reflect Arab culture and contribute to the spirituality of the annual Hajj. Reflecting on the design of the structure, Dr Khan said “…in my opinion, it (the Hajj Terminal) should evoke the spirit of Hajj and that’s all it should do. It creates a spirit, it gives you a feeling of tranquility and sense of continuity, of transition into the real place, which is Mecca.” He won the 28 th Progressive Architecture Award for this project in 1981. In 1983, after his death in 1982, the Haj Terminal was awarded the Aga Khan Award for Architecture.
Dr Khan once said that he did not wish to be known as Fazlur Khan; he preferred to be called by his full name, Fazlur Rehman Khan. The Arabic meaning of the name is lost when the middle name is dropped. Commenting on the transformation of Dr Khan after performing Hajj, Dr Ali observes, “Khan went to Mecca to perform Hajj in 1976 …Those who knew him most intimately saw a gradual but profound change in him in the late 1970s. He became still more inwardly directed --- although he was already an introspective man --- and he became more spiritual. He came to know that the truly integrated person was one for whom a spiritual dimension in life was important. Although he was not orthodox, and had a respect for all religions, he was loyal to his faith. He was a student of Islam, studying Islamic history and philosophy. When Joseph Colaco (a close associate) asked him about his religious belief, he replied “I have always been a Muslim.” And when Chandra Jha (his friend) and he discussed religious matters, Khan would quote from the Qur’an to make his point. He had a clear distinction between right and wrong” (pp. 195-196).
Art of the Skyscraper: The Genius of Fazlur Khan is an important book on the life and accomplishments of the greatest structural engineer of the 21 st century. Professor Mir Ali has presented to the people around the world a tribute to the brilliance of Dr F R Khan. He has done a wonderful job of combining the biography of Dr Fazlur Rahman Khan, with the technical problems and challenges associated with the construction of tall buildings. It is a fascinating story of the genius of Dr Fazlur Rahman Khan; a must read for all technical and non-technical minds; and an invaluable resource for students, architects, and engineers.
(Dr Ahmed S. Khan - dr.a.s.khan@ieee.org - is a Fulbright Specialist Scholar 2017-2022).
