The art of structural design

by David P. Billington

"This book brings together for the first time the work of four Swiss engineers and their teachers who form the most impressive group of structural artists in the twentieth 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 P. Billington, who pioneered the integration of the liberal arts into engineering education, argues that it is important to consider these men as artists, for aesthetics played a major role in their design philosophy. He explains that their shared approach to design was influenced significantly while they attended the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich; Maillart and Ammann studed with Ritter there, and Isler and Menn studed under Lardy. Billington focuses on the engineers' artistic approach to the design and construction of bridges and thin shell roofs, and he discusses their impressive individual contributions to structural enginee