Fred N. Severud
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Fred Severud (June 8, 1899 - June 11, 1990) was a Norwegian born, American structural engineer. His projects included the St. Louis Gateway Arch,
Seagram Building The Seagram Building is a skyscraper at 375 Park Avenue, between 52nd and 53rd Streets, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe with minor assistance from Philip Johnson, Ely Jacques Kahn, ...
and Madison Square Garden.


Background

Fred N. Severud was born Fridtjov Nikolai Sæverud in Bergen, Norway. He was the son of Herman Sæverud (1861–1931) and Cecilie Tvedt (1869–1956). His father was a businessman and owner of a margarine factory in Bergen. His parents encouraged their children to attend college. Severud had two brothers and nine sisters. One brother,
Harald Sæverud Harald Sigurd Johan Sæverud (17 April 1897 – 27 March 1992) was a Norwegian composer. He is most known for his music to Henrik Ibsen's ''Peer Gynt'', '' Rondo Amoroso'', and the ''Ballad of Revolt'' ( no, Kjempeviseslåtten). Sæverud ...
, gained recognition as a modern classical composer. Another brother, Bjarne Sæverud (1892-1978), would be active within the Norwegian Resistance during the
Occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany The occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany during the Second World War began on 9 April 1940 after Operation Weserübung. Conventional armed resistance to the German invasion ended on 10 June 1940, and Nazi Germany controlled Norway until th ...
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
and serve as a representative in the
Norwegian Parliament The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...
from Bergen (1945 - 1949) Severud attended the Bergen Cathedral School and later studied at the Norwegian Institute of Technology. In 1923, Severud emigrated to the United States, entering through
Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mil ...
. Shortly thereafter, Severud started work for an engineering company, where he was rapidly promoted.


Career

Severud utilized the experience he gained in his early years of designing successful housing projects. In 1928 he founded an engineering consultancy in Manhattan called Severud-Elstad-Krueger Associates, renamed twenty years later as Severud-Perrone-Sturm-
Bandel Bandel is a neighbourhood in the Hooghly district of the Indian state of West Bengal. It is founded by Portuguese settlers and falls under the jurisdiction of Chandernagore Police Commissionerate. It is a part of the area covered by Kolkata M ...
, and now known as
Severud Associates Severud is a multinational structural engineering consulting firm headquartered in New York City, with additional offices in London and Paris. The firm has worked on over 12,000 projects around the world. History Severud was founded in the year 1 ...
. He also lectured and was the author of several books and articles on architectural and engineering subjects. Along with Joseph H. Abel (1905-1985), he wrote one of the industry’s first comprehensive books, ''Apartment Houses'' (Reinhold Publishing Corporation, 1947) on how to best design, build and operate apartment ventures. A few years later, as one of the few structural engineers in the world to have analyzed the forces from and the effects of atomic bombs, together with Anthony F. Merrill he wrote a textbook on protection from nuclear explosions called ''The Bomb, Survival and You'' (Reinhold Publishing Corporation, 1954).
Frei Otto Frei Paul Otto (; 31 May 1925 – 9 March 2015) was a German architect and structural engineer noted for his use of lightweight structures, in particular tensile and membrane structures, including the roof of the Olympic Stadium in Munich for ...
, the German architect and engineer known for membrane and tensile structures such as the Olympic Stadium in Munich, visited his office in 1951 during the construction of the Raleigh Livestock Arena. Edmund (Ted) Happold founder of Buro Happold, worked for several years in his office.


Selected projects

*
Dorton Arena J. S. Dorton Arena is a 7,610-seat multi-purpose arena located in Raleigh, North Carolina, on the grounds of the North Carolina State Fair. It opened in 1952. Architect Maciej Nowicki of the North Carolina State University Department of Architec ...
, Raleigh, N.C. (1953) (architect Matthew Nowicki) * Place Ville Marie, Montreal (1962) (architect I M Pei) *
Haus der Kulturen der Welt The Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), in English House of the World's Cultures, in Berlin is Germany's national center for the presentation and discussion of international contemporary arts, with a special focus on non-European cultures and so ...
, Berlin (House of the Cultures of the World) (1957) (architect
Hugh Stubbins Hugh Asher Stubbins Jr. (January 11, 1912 – July 5, 2006) was an architect who designed several high-profile buildings around the world. Biography Hugh Stubbins was born in Birmingham, Alabama, United States, and attended Georgia Institute ...
) * David S. Ingalls Hockey Rink at
Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...
(1959) (architect
Eero Saarinen Eero Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1910 – September 1, 1961) was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer noted for his wide-ranging array of designs for buildings and monuments. Saarinen is best known for designing the General Motors ...
) *
Toronto City Hall The Toronto City Hall, or New City Hall, is the seat of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the city's most distinctive landmarks. Designed by Viljo Revell and engineered by Hannskarl Bandel, the building opened i ...
(opened 1965) (architect
Viljo Revell Viljo Gabriel Revell (25 January 1910 – 8 November 1964) was a Finnish architect of the functionalist school. In Finland he is best known for the design of the Lasipalatsi ("Glass Palace") and Palace Hotel, both in Helsinki. Internationally, ...
) * St Louis
Gateway Arch The Gateway Arch is a monument in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a weighted catenary arch, it is the world's tallest arch and Missouri's tallest accessible building. Some sources consider ...
, (completed 1965) (architect
Eero Saarinen Eero Saarinen (, ; August 20, 1910 – September 1, 1961) was a Finnish-American architect and industrial designer noted for his wide-ranging array of designs for buildings and monuments. Saarinen is best known for designing the General Motors ...
)


Gallery

Image:Haus_der_Kulturen_der_Welt_Nachtaufnahme.jpg, Haus der Kulturen der Welt in Berlin, Germany Image:Ingalls Rink Highsmith.jpg, Ingalls Rink in New Haven, Connecticut File:Dorton Arena.jpg, J.S. Dorton Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina City Hall, Toronto, Ontario.jpg, Toronto City Hall in Toronto, Ontario File:Madison Square Garden IV.jpg, Madison Square Garden in New York City


Selected works

*''The Bomb, Survival, and You: Protection for people, buildings, equipment'' with Anthony F. Merrill (1954) *''Apartment Houses: Progressive Architecture Library'' with Joseph H. Abel (1947)


Honors

A fellow in the ASCE, Severud was elected a member of the
National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of ...
(1968). Severud received numerous personal engineering awards for being an industry pacesetter, among them the Ernest Howard Award (1964) and the Franklin P. Brown Medal (1952). The
American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...
presented him with its prestigious Honorary Associate Member award for his lifetime of contributions to structural design.


Personal life

On Sept. 11, 1923 he married Signe Hansen, whom he had known at the Norwegian Institute of Technology. They would have four children–Fred, Jr. (1936-2021), Inger, Laila and Sonja. As a
Jehovah's Witness Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...
since the 1930s, he helped design many of their religious buildings throughout his engineering years. Severud left engineering behind on his retirement in 1973, just before his 74th birthday. He died at his home in
Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
at the age of 91 from Alzheimer's disease.


See also

*
Engineering Legends ''Engineering Legends: Great American Civil Engineers'' is a 2005 book by engineer Richard Weingardt. The book features a list of 32 engineering legends from the 1700s to the present, including Fazlur Khan, Hal Iyengar, Tung-Yen Lin, Benjamin W ...
*
Severud Associates Severud is a multinational structural engineering consulting firm headquartered in New York City, with additional offices in London and Paris. The firm has worked on over 12,000 projects around the world. History Severud was founded in the year 1 ...
* Fazlur Khan *
Tung-Yen Lin Tung-Yen Lin (; November 14, 1912 – November 15, 2003) was a Chinese-American structural engineer who was the pioneer of standardizing the use of prestressed concrete. Biography Born in Fuzhou, Republic of China (ROC), as the fourth of elev ...
* Hal Iyengar


References


Other sources

*da Sousa Cruz, Paulo J., ed. (2013) ''Structures and Architecture: New concepts, applications and challenges'' (CRC Press) *Campbell, Tracy (2013) ''The Gateway Arch: A Biography'' (Yale University Press) *Lemire, Elise; Benjamin Flowers (2012) ''Skyscraper: The Politics and Power of Building New York City in the Twentieth Century'' (University of Pennsylvania Press) *Weingardt, Richard G. (2005) ''Engineering Legends: Great American Civil Engineers'' (American Society of Civil Engineers)


External links


Severud Associates website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Severud, Fred 1899 births 1990 deaths Engineers from Bergen People educated at the Bergen Cathedral School Norwegian Institute of Technology alumni Norwegian emigrants to the United States Structural engineers Norwegian civil engineers American civil engineers Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering 20th-century American engineers