Jörg Schlaich (17 October 1934 – 4 September 2021) was a German

structural engineer Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants. Their work takes account mainly of safety, technical, economi ...

and is known internationally for his ground-breaking work in the creative design of bridges, long-span roofs, and other complex structures. He was a co-founder of the

structural engineering Structural engineering is a sub-discipline of civil engineering in which structural engineers are trained to design the 'bones and muscles' that create the form and shape of man-made structures. Structural engineers also must understand and cal ...

and consulting firm

Schlaich Bergermann Partner Schlaich bergermann partner is a nationally and internationally active structural engineering and consulting firm with headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany and branch offices in Berlin, New York City, São Paulo, Shanghai and Paris. History The f ...

. He was the brother of the architect Brigitte Schlaich Peterhans.

Early career

Jörg Schlaich studied architecture and civil engineering from 1953 to 1955 at

Stuttgart University The University of Stuttgart (german: Universität Stuttgart) is a leading research university located in Stuttgart, Germany. It was founded in 1829 and is organized into 10 faculties. It is one of the oldest technical universities in Germany with ...

before completing his studies at the

Technical University of Berlin The Technical University of Berlin (official name both in English and german: link=no, Technische Universität Berlin, also known as TU Berlin and Berlin Institute of Technology) is a public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It was ...

in 1959. He spent 1959 and 1960 at the

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the United States, U.S. U.S. state, state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, Ohio, Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along ...

, United States. In 1963, he joined the firm Leonhardt & Andrä, the firm founded by Fritz Leonhardt.

Later career

Schlaich was made a partner and was responsible for the Alster-Schwimmhalle in Hamburg, and more importantly, the

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

in Munich. He stayed with the firm until 1969. In 1974 he became an academic at

, and in 1980 he founded his own firm,

. In 1993, with the roof of the

Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion Mercedes-Benz Arena () is a stadium located in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany and home to German Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart. Before 1993 it was called Neckarstadion (), named after the nearby river Neckar and between 1993 and July ...

(since 2008 Mercedes-Benz-Arena) in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Sw ...

, he introduced the "speichenrad" principle to

. Indeed, this principle was employed for the first time in the history of Structural Engineering by the Italian engineer Massimo Majowiecki, the designer of the roof of the Olympic Stadium, Rome (built in 1990, three years before the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion). Since then, his company has successfully employed it in stadium projects across the globe. Other structures include the observation tower at the

Killesbergpark The Killesbergpark (Höhenpark Killesberg) is an urban public park of half a square kilometre (123 acres) in Stuttgart, Germany. It is just north of the state capital, where Killesberg is a quarter of the borough of ''Stuttgart-Nord'' (North). ...

in Stuttgart. Most of his work as well of that of his company is documented on their website. He was also the developer of the solar tower (or solar chimney) and is largely credited with inventing the strut and tie model for

reinforced concrete Reinforced concrete (RC), also called reinforced cement concrete (RCC) and ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low ultimate tensile strength, tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion ...

External links

schlaich bergermann partner (sbp) site
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schlaich, Jorg 1934 births 2021 deaths People from Rems-Murr-Kreis People from the Free People's State of Württemberg Bridge engineers German civil engineers Structural engineers Tensile architecture Tensile membrane structures Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin IStructE Gold Medal winners Werner von Siemens Ring laureates

Early career

Later career

Further reading

External links

References