BOOK REVIEWS
lar design project; yet, by addressing fundamental prob-
Review of Engineering Architecture:
The Vision of Fazlur R. Khan by
Yasmin Sabina Khan
2004; W.W. Norton and Co., New York; 416 pp.; 200 illustrations; $55
Kenneth L. Carper, M.ASCE
Professor, School of Architecture and Construction Management, College
of Engineering and Architecture, Washington State Univ., Pullman,
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WA 99164-2220.
Here is a book that will make you proud to be a part of the
design/construction community. Engineering Architecture is an
inspiring biography—the life story of Fazlur R. Khan, one of the
most talented and innovative structural engineers of the twentieth
century 共Fig. 1兲.
Much has been written about Fazlur Khan’s technical contri-
butions, but this book is uniquely illuminating. It is written by
Khan’s daughter, Yasmin Sabina Khan 共Fig. 2兲, herself an accom-
plished structural engineer. The author’s technical qualifications,
thoughtful research, and skilled writing should, by themselves,
establish Engineering Architecture as an essential volume in the
library of every architect and structural engineer. What makes this
book such compelling reading, however, is the underlying moti-
vation for the author’s work—a special relationship between a
warm, attentive father and an admiring daughter. More than sim-
ply an account of professional accomplishments, this book is a
tribute to human relationships, as represented by a most extraor-
dinary man.
Fazlur Khan was born in northern British India 共now Bang-
ladesh兲 in 1929. He first traveled to the United States in 1952 as
a Fulbright Scholar for graduate study at the University of
Illinois–Urbana, where he studied under an outstanding set of
engineering professors. He supplemented his academic work with
practice experience in the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings &
Merrill LLP 共SOM兲 until 1957, when he returned to his native
country. Three years later, in 1960 and at the age of 31, Khan
relocated to Chicago to make the United States his home. Yasmin
Khan writes of his early career:
Over the course of the next decade Khan’s accomplish-
ments in high-rise design and his keen understanding of
structures earned him regard in the engineering and archi-
tecture professions as one of the most influential struc-
tural engineers of the twentieth century. In 1965, a time
when buildings of 40 stories drew attention even in the
largest urban areas, he introduced a bold trussed-tube
scheme for a 100-story tower, Chicago’s John Hancock
Center. Five years later, he developed another advanced
building system, the bundled tube, for the 110-story Sears
Tower, which would seize the title of “world’s tallest
building” in 1974 and retain it for the next 22 years.
Progressive in their day, the structural systems that
Khan developed and initiated in his design projects are
today counted among the conventional structural types
available to design professionals. Each new structural
type responded to the program requirements of a particu-
184 / JOURNAL OF PERFORMANCE OF CONSTRUCTED FACILITIES © ASCE / MAY 2005
J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 2005, 19(2): 184-186
lems and adhering to basic structural principles, Khan
conceived solutions of broad application that now seem
inevitable. He strove for judicious use of structural mate-
rials, employing them in such a way as to achieve the
strength and stiffness required for supertall building con-
struction without requiring premium for height. In con-
trast, the skyscrapers built during the previous building
boom, in the 1920s and early 1930s, had depended upon a
“skeleton” framing system that necessitated dispropor-
tionately high construction costs as building heights rose.
As a consequence, it had become an understood fact of
design—accepted among the general public as well as in
the engineering profession—that buildings inevitably cost
more per unit floor area with increasing height. In the
1960s and 1970s, the tubular structural systems that Khan
developed would disprove this misconception with dra-
matically improved frameworks for supertall building
construction.
Evident in Fazlur Khan’s influential engineering contributions
is a respect for the reality of limited resources. His work is char-
acterized by simplicity, clarity, logic, and efficiency. Also appar-
ent is his legendary commitment to collaboration among the de-
sign disciplines of architecture and engineering. Khan’s
philosophy was that “…by conjoining creative energies and dif-
ferent perspectives, better innovative and responsive design solu-
tions could be developed than either architect or engineer might
conceive in isolation.” By working closely with architects, he
viewed design problems “in their totality, rather than solely in
technical terms.” Architectural form and structure were conceived
and developed simultaneously through close collaboration. The
result is a softening of the boundaries between architecture and
engineering in Khan’s buildings, where the architectural configu-
ration is informed by technical considerations and the structural
system is conceived in response to architectural program and aes-
thetic considerations.
The emphasis on collaboration present in the Chicago office of
SOM during the 20 years Khan worked for the firm encouraged
enthusiasm and imagination. The firm was engaged in projects of
immense scale and cultural significance throughout the world.
These involved urban development schemes, complex multiuse
tall buildings, and infrastructure for new airport facilities and uni-
versity campuses in the Middle East. A most productive and long-
standing collaborative working relationship developed between
Khan and Bruce J. Graham, fellow partner in SOM and chief
design architect in the Chicago office:
Khan was fortunate to find himself in a time and place
receptive to his personal philosophy regarding design col-
laboration. Chicago architecture had a proud tradition of
reconciled structure and building architecture, of architec-
tural expression of structure, and of pragmatism, as op-
posed to formal academic tradition. Though a dichotomy
between the disciplines of architecture and engineering
had prevailed in the 1920s and 1930s, by the 1950s their
integration was gaining stature—in theory, at least—in

Fig. 1. Fazlur R. Khan, shortly before his death in 1982 共photograph
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by Stuart-Rogers Photographers, courtesy of Skidmore, Owings &
Merrill LLP兲
large part due to the influence of Ludwig Mies van der
Rohe, who practiced architecture in Chicago and taught at
IIT.
From the start, Khan set about engendering an office en-
vironment at SOM that promoted both innovation in the
engineering group and collaboration between the engi-
neering and architecture departments. His appreciation of
the needs and ambitions of architecture facilitated mean-
ingful dialogue with colleagues, a dialogue that was es-
sential to informing his own intellectual investigations.
Within a short time he gained both architects’ and engi-
neers’ confidence through his knowledge of engineering
matters and the relevance of his ideas on architecture. As
his aesthetic and contextual sensibilities strengthened, he
came to fully participate in architectural discourse, while
bringing to it a fresh perspective with broadening influ-
ence. With Bruce J. Graham, a partner in SOM and chief
design architect in the Chicago office, he established a
level of communication that evolved into a fruitful and
enduring partnership. Graham perceived vitality in build-
ing forms expressive of their structural character, and his
openness to structure as the organizing theme for building
architecture inspired Khan to strive for structural systems
Fig. 2. Yasmin S. Khan, author, structural engineer, and daughter of
Fazlur Khan, 2004 共photograph by the author’s husband, Stephen D.
Byron兲
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J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 2005, 19(2): 184-186
that were not only structurally efficient but also worthy of
becoming the core idea on which architectural design
could center.
Fazlur Khan’s commitment to collaboration extended beyond
work with other engineers and architects within SOM. As he pro-
posed new materials and structural concepts, solved the intrica-
cies of composite construction, and studied the implications of
differential thermal movements in tall buildings with exposed
structure, he regularly consulted with peers outside the firm—
practitioners, academics, and researchers. Successful collabora-
tion leaves little room for arrogance. From all accounts, Khan’s
personality was devoid of arrogance, despite his remarkable pro-
fessional achievements. Colleagues recall his conciliatory skills
that were often called upon to smooth over the ego-driven con-
flicts among other designers. One colleague commented, “Why he
was so kind to me, I do not know; except that he was like that
with everybody. I’ve tried to adopt that style myself… It’s actu-
ally an unbeatable recipe for success.”
In his foreword to the book, architect Stanley Tigerman de-
scribes his close friend this way:
Fazlur Rahman Khan was, without question, one of a
kind. He was utterly brilliant but without artifice, and as
far as I am concerned, he was the conscience of SOM. His
morality was beyond reproach, and there was absolutely
no soapbox oratory to it. He was as self-effacing as I am
not, and our friendship—odd couple that it was—always
made me feel better 共actually, I think he had that effect on
everyone with whom he came in contact兲.
The range of Fazlur Khan’s technical contributions is
impressive—in variety of project type, scale, material, and loca-
tion:
In a career of forward movement, Khan was continually
driven to search out further improvement and to develop
greater insight into structural behavior. His explorations
were not limited to any one structural material. Following
an early concentration in prestressed concrete, he de-
signed his first high rise in conventional reinforced con-
crete; he then turned to structural steel for the John Han-
cock Center. In the 1970s, he borrowed from bridge
design to develop a cable-stayed roof structure; created a
sophisticated tensile structure for the Hajj Terminal at the
airport in Jeddah; and investigated vernacular construc-
tion for a university campus in the desert climate of Saudi
Arabia. As an adjunct professor and master’s thesis advi-
sor at the Illinois Institute of Technology 共IIT兲 he studied
precast concrete and masonry for application in tall build-
ing construction…
When Khan began work on high-rise design in 1961, en-
gineers relied on a handful of structural systems that were
ill equipped to resist wind load and control sway in build-
ings over 25 to 30 stories. A decade later, the design pro-
fession possessed an array of structural systems, the ma-
jority of which Khan had developed; systems such as the
framed tube, the tube-in-tube, the optimum column-
diagonal-truss tube and the diagonalized framed tube, the
belt truss interaction system, and the bundled tube. In his
affirmation of the logic of combining structural steel and
reinforced concrete in a composite system, the range of
structural organization for efficient and economical tall
building design gained yet greater breadth. By the 1980s
 the notion of a composite system was fully accepted and
widely implemented in supertall building construction.
His consistent insight and intellectual vigor would un-
doubtedly have led him to develop structural systems to
meet the evolving needs of building construction, had he
lived to see the resumption of development activity in the
1980s.
Yasmin Khan provides sufficient detail on each project to keep
the reader fascinated. Projects range from the design of the sup-
porting structure for Picasso’s famous sculpture in the Chicago
Civic Center plaza to planning the fabric roof of the airport ter-
minal in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Her description of the problems
encountered with the drilled concrete caissons at Chicago’s 100-
story John Hancock Tower, and Khan’s response, should be of
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particular interest to readers of this journal.
The author skillfully weaves the political, economic, and so-
cial climate of the 1960s and 1970s into the contextual fabric of
Khan’s life. The 1960s and 1970s were exciting decades, embrac-
ing much optimism along with economic instabilities and social
disruptions. In architecture and engineering, great strides were
made in technical theory. Computer methods for structural analy-
sis were in their infancy, and SOM was at the forefront in inte-
grating these new computational tools into practice. Pioneering
work on wind engineering for tall buildings, using the boundary
layer wind tunnel, was under way. Fazlur Khan was at the center
of these innovations. His cautious, experience-based optimism is
seen as he contributed to advances in computer software, while
verifying the computational results with laboratory testing and
peer review. There are lessons here for current practitioners, who
have begun to experience catastrophic failures caused by overly
optimistic reliance on the precision of computer analyses. Khan
always knew the limits of precedent, and he extended the limits
with great caution, using all available tools including full-scale
laboratory tests. One example is the 2.44-m-wide 共8-ft-wide兲 by
7.32-m-deep 共24-ft-deep兲 three-span continuous transfer girder at
the base of the Brunswick Building, in Chicago. This was the
largest reinforced concrete beam ever constructed in a building.
Khan insisted on laboratory tests at the University of Illinois to
verify the design, as the scale was beyond that for which current
analytical theory could be trusted.
In the mid-1970s, SOM began to undertake a substantial
amount of work in the Middle East and in Asia. Fazlur Khan
played a significant role in this work, not only as a structural
engineer but also in preliminary planning and architectural pro-
gramming. It is in this later work that we see evidence of his
profound interest in regional context and passionate commitment
to cross-cultural understanding. In her description of planning for
the Jeddah airport—the largest roof in the world—and for the new
campus for King Abdul Aziz University at Makkah, Yasmin Khan
provides some timely insights into Islamic culture, history, and
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J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 2005, 19(2): 184-186
religious tradition. Her father’s contributions to these projects
were greatly enhanced by his intimate understanding of the cul-
tural context. It was while in Saudi Arabia, on a visit related to
university campus planning, that Fazlur Khan experienced a fatal
cardiac arrest on March 27, 1982—one week shy of his fifty-third
birthday.
While nearly all structural engineers and architects are cogni-
zant of Fazlur Khan’s technical contributions and the vast array of
tangible evidence of his professional work, few may be aware of
his humanitarian contributions. Political and economic conditions
in the late 1960s and early 1970s caused intense human suffering
in his native country, Bangladesh. Khan assumed a lead role dur-
ing this period in humanitarian relief efforts, as this new country
gained political independence. Khan and his friend, Stanley Ti-
german, founded the Bangladesh Defense League, its headquar-
ters based in Chicago. Khan was also the founding president of
the Bangladesh Emergency Welfare Appeal organization. His ac-
tive compassion for desperate people helped make a difference in
many lives.
Engineering Architecture is far more than the typical de-
tached biography. The author’s unique relationship with Fazlur
Khan provides a comprehensive insight into his life. Over 200
carefully selected illustrations of impressive engineering projects
are interspersed with photographs of the family and of profes-
sional colleagues entertained in the Khan home. This book is a
tribute to a great structural engineer, and a warm, compassionate
human being. Yasmin Khan’s stated goal, that “within his experi-
ence, readers may discover not only example, but also inspira-
tion,” has certainly been met. The author’s afterword contains
these comments:
As a child growing up, I never realized how distracting
my father’s life outside our home might have been; that
is, if he had allowed it to be so. Instead, I felt that he was
consistently attentive, affectionate, and good-natured…
My friends 共one of whom still refers to him as “dad”兲 felt
his warmth as well…
I knew that my father had designed the John Hancock
Center and the Sears Tower, buildings that I saw often.
And occasionally, when I was out with him, a stranger
would approach and thank him for a talk he had given
somewhere. I had heard him speak to groups myself. Yet
none of this changed my view of him. He was my father,
and he had always been everything that I wanted from a
father.
These are perhaps the most inspiring words in this book. They
describe a man who, despite achieving great stature in his chosen
profession, managed to cultivate the most rewarding qualities of
human experience.