Light Structures - Structures of Light

About the Book

     “In this book tensile structures are explained and illustrated by its most prolific designer. The chapters take on the form of stories, richly illustrated and presented in a language easily understandable by a general audience; at the same time the book is a valuable source for students and practitioners of architecture and engineering.

     Beginning with a history of domes, the book explains the origins and principles of tensile structures and then moves on to demonstrate their application in Horst Berger’s own work. This includes such landmark structures as the spectacular Denver International Airport; the Haj Terminal of the Jeddah International Airport, the world’s largest roof structure; the record span Riyadh Stadium; the San Diego Convention Center; Canada Place in Vancouver.”

About the Author

Horst Berger is an internationally recognized structural engineer, whose own practices included Horst Berger Partners and Geiger Berger Associates. His work was instrumental in bringing tensile technology and design into the real world of architecture on a very large scale. His structures stand out both as technological achievements and as creative architectural art. His main objectives were: to create large span spaces with less effort and more grace, to enrich architectural spaces, make architecture more widely affordable and bring buildings more in tune with the environment. His many built structures demonstrate their realization. Since 1990 Horst Berger teaches at CCNY’s School of Architecture. In 2002 the City University of New York made him a Distinguished Professor.