Project Description
The prestigious German engineer Jörg Schlaich was awarded the Civil Engineering Prize by the Fundación José Entrecanales Ibarra in 2006, in recognition of his professional career as a professor at the University of Stuttgart and, especially, of his work as an internationally distinguished designer.
Born in Stetten, near Stuttgart (Germany) in 1934, he studied architecture and civil engineering at the Technical Universities of Stuttgart and Berlin. For 33 years he worked as an instructor at the Technical University of Stuttgart and as full professor and Director of the University’s Structural Concrete Institute. He has published copious literature on the subject and more than 300 articles on practical and scientific aspects of engineering in the most prestigious specialized international reviews. He is a member of the most important German and international professional associations, such as the Ingenieurkammer Baden-Württemberg, the Architekten- und Ingenieurverein, the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering, the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures, the Fédération Internationale du Béton and the American Society of Civil Engineers. Further, he was recently appointed a member of the Real Academia de la Ingeniería Española (Spanish Royal Academy of Engineering).
His work has been marked by a constant search for new structural concepts, which are reflected in the towers, bridges, roofs and buildings in whose construction he has participated. Additionally, he has shown a strong concern for the environment and renewable energies, and a special interest in solar energy, through the conceptual design of various solar plants, such as those built in Namibia, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Almería, and Seville, as well as the Manzanares experimental solar chimney.
Among his works in Spain, we can point to significant projects such as the monument in homage to the victims of the 3/11 terrorist attack in Madrid, the roof of the Seville Olympic Stadium, the moveable roof of the Zaragoza bull ring, the roof of the Vista Alegre bull ring, the roof of Madrid’s Palace of Communications, and the glass façade of the Príncipe Pío shopping centre in Madrid.
Outstanding among Schlaich’s great works on the international level are the roof of the Olympic Stadium in Munich, the retractable roof of the Montreal Olympic Stadium, the roofs of the Museum of Tolerance in Jerusalem, the Spandau train station in Berlin, the Ting Kau bridge in Hong Kong and the Dubai Creek Crossing bridge in Dubai.
