Ove Arup: Masterbuilder of the Twentieth Century

In 1946 Ove Arup, a leading engineer of the twentieth century, founded a firm of consulting engineers that brought to fruition such iconic structures as the Sydney Opera House, the Olympic Village in Beijing, London’s Millennium Bridge, the Beaubourg Centre in Paris, the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, and Kansai Airport in Japan among many others. Devoted to a “commonsense” reform of engineering and architectural practice, Arup (1895-1988) pioneered the way for modern architects and engineers to collaborate successfully and responsibly on large projects. This is the first biography of the great and versatile engineer, complete with some 80 historic photographs that have never been published before.
Peter Jones, the first researcher to have full access to the vast private Arup archives, tells the complete story of Ove Arup’s extraordinary life, his social, aesthetic, and environmental concerns, and his practical contributions during a period of political and technological upheaval. Jones also offers a revelatory new account of the Sydney Opera House and the character of those involved in its complex construction.