Ove Arup

Ove Nyquist Arup
Born	16 April 1895(1895-04-16) Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Died	February 5, 1988(1988-02-05) (aged 92) London, England
Nationality	Anglo-Danish
Education	Sorø Academy Copenhagen University Polyteknisk Læreanstalt
Spouse	Ruth Sørensen
Parents	Jens Simon Johannes Arup Mathilde Jolette Nyquist
Work
Engineering discipline	Structural engineer
Institution memberships	Institution of Structural Engineers
Practice name	Arup
Significant projects	Sydney Opera House Centre Pompidou Kingsgate Bridge Highpoint I Labworth Café
Significant awards	IStructE Gold Medal RIBA Gold Medal

Sir Ove Nyquist Arup, CBE, MICE, MIStructE (16 April 1895 – 5 February 1988) known as Ove Arup, was a leading Anglo-Danish engineer and generally considered to be one of the foremost architectural structural engineers of his time . He was the founder of the internationally recognised engineering firm of Arup.^[1]

Early life and education

Arup was born in Newcastle, England in 1895, to the Danish veterinary surgeon Jens Simon Johannes Arup and his Norwegian wife Mathilde Bolette Nyquist. Arup attended the Sorø Academy in Denmark—a boarding school with many influences from Dr Thomas Arnold of the Rugby School in the United Kingdom.

In 1913, he began studying philosophy at Copenhagen University and in 1918 enrolled for an engineering degree at the Polyteknisk Læreanstalt, Copenhagen, specialising in reinforced concrete. He completed his studies in 1922. At this time Ove Arup was influenced by Charles Edouard Jeanneret (Le Corbusier) and his publication Vers une architecture, published that year; and also by Walter Gropius, the founder of the Bauhaus movement.

Working life

Before WWII

In 1922, Ove Arup began work with a Danish firm in Hamburg called Christiani & Nielsen, and in December 1923 he moved to their London office as chief engineer.^[2]

Arup married Ruth Sørensen, known as Li, on 13 August 1925.^[3]

Between 1932–33 he designed the Labworth Café—a café with two integrated shelters set on the promenade of the neighbouring Essex seaside resort of Canvey Island. The café exists as the only building solely designed by Arup.^[4] He then worked as structural consultant to the Tecton partnership, notably on the Penguin Pool at London's Regent’s Park Zoo,^[5] Whipsnade Zoo, Dudley Zoo and on Highpoint One, Highgate (a building he was later highly critical of). The close working relationship that Arup developed with Tecton's senior partner Berthold Lubetkin, proved to be highly important in the development of both men's careers.^[2]

He moved next to a London construction company, J. L. Kier & Co. in London, as director and chief designer from 1934–1938, and during the 1930s he also worked with Ernö Goldfinger, Wells Coates, Maxwell Fry, Yorke, Rosenberg & Mardall and Marcel Breuer.^[2]

He became a member of the executive committee of the MARS Group in 1935.^[2]

In 1938, with his cousin Arne Arup he founded Arup & Arup Limited, a firm of engineers and contractors.^[2]

World War II

A pair of Phoenixes at Portland Harbour

Before the war Ove Arup was on the Air Raid Precautions organising committee and he advised Finsbury Council on the provision of bomb shelters. During the war he published a number of papers on shelter policy and designs, mainly advocating reinforced concrete mass shelters, rather than the government policy of dispersing the population in small domestic shelters. Largely for political reasons most of his recommendations were never adopted, although some wealthy Londoners were able to build concrete shelters according to his design. Arup played a significant part in the design of the Mulberry temporary harbours used during the D-Day landings.^[2]

The Mulberry Harbour was a type of temporary harbour developed to offload cargo on the beaches during the Allied invasion of Normandy. Two prefabricated or artificial military harbours were taken across the English Channel from Britain with the invading army in sections and assembled off the coast of Normandy as part of the D-Day invasion of France in 1944.

Arup & Partners

Arup led the engineering design of Sydney Opera House and made its construction possible.

In 1946, after dissolving Arup & Arup Ltd, he created a team of Civil and Structural Engineering consultants. In the same year, he formed his first partnership with Ronald Jenkins, Geoffrey Wood and Andrew Young called Arup and Partners.

A further company, Arup Associates,^[6] was formed in 1963 as a new partnership, a body of Architects and Engineers working on an equal basis as Building Designers:^[7] the engineer Ove Arup, the architects Francis Pym and Philip Dowson, and the former partners of Arup and Partners. It was a multi-disciplinary company providing engineering, architectural, and other services for the built environment. Arup said himself that ultimately, all of the Arup names resulted in a firm called simply Arup.^[2]

Notable projects

Highpoint I

Highpoint I was an important experiment in high-rise residential design, and was one of Arup's most significant collaborations with Lubetkin. Arup later criticised the project as having significant flaws.^[1]

Sydney Opera House

Arup was the design engineer for the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia from the project's start in 1957 to its completion in 1973. An iconic building making groundbreaking use of precast concrete, structural glue and computer analysis, this made Arup's reputation, and that of his firm, despite the extremely difficult working relationship with the architect, Jørn Utzon.

Kingsgate Bridge

Kingsgate Bridge seen from Durham Students Union, the Cathedral above.

Ove Arup personally supervised the design and construction of Durham's Kingsgate Bridge in 1963. The firm's first bridge, Arup was particularly attached to the project and had his ashes scattered from it following his death. A bust of Arup that was placed at one end of the Bridge was stolen in the summer of 2006.

Honours

• 1965 Knight First Class of the Order of the Dannebrog
• 1966 Royal Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects
• 1971 British Knighthood
• 1973 Gold Medal of the Institution of Structural Engineers
• 1975 Knight Commander First Class of the Order of the Dannebrog
• 1987 Royal Academician

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b} Jones, 2006.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Jones, 2006. (p. 31).
3. ^ Jones, 2006. (p. 44).
4. ^ "...the Labworth Café, the only building designed by the distinguished engineer Ove Arup." (Bettley, 2008). "...one of the only architectural designs by Ove Arup", (English heritage, 2007).
5. ^ Glynn, 1998-2006.
6. ^ Brawne, 1983.
7. ^ Brawne, 1983. (p. 7).

References

• Arup, Ove Nyquist (1989). Liengaard, Anja. ed. Doodles and doggerel. London: Ove Arup Partnership. 
• Brawne, Michael. (1983). Arup Associates: The biography of an architectural practice. London: Lund Humphries. ISBN 0853314497 (casebound) ISBN 0853314519 (paperback)
• Bettley, James. (2008). Essex Explored: Essex Architecture. Essex County Council. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
• Campbell, Peter; Allan, John; Ahrends, Peter; Zunz, Jack; Morreau, Patrick (1995). Ove Arup 1895-1988. London: Institution of Civil Engineers. ISBN 0-7277-2066-X. 
• English Heritage. (2007). National Monuments Records: Images of England. Detailed Record, Details for IoE Number: 461758. Retrieved: 2008-02-18.
• Glynn, Simon. (1998–2006). Penguin Pool London Zoo by Berthold Lubetkin. galinsky. Retrieved 2008-06-17.
• Jones, Peter (2006). Ove Arup : Masterbuilder of the Twentieth Century. New Haven, CT and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11296-2. 
• Ove Arup & Partners 1946-1986. London: Academy Editions. 1986. ISBN 0-85670-898-4. 

Further reading

• Churchill Archives Centre, The Papers of Sir Ove Arup, ARUP.

External links

• Twentieth Century Society: article on Dudley Zoo
• Short film on the reinforced concrete buildings that Ove Arup helped design for Dudley Zoo in the 1930s

Persondata
Name	Arup, Ove
Alternative names
Short description	Anglo-Danish engineer
Date of birth	16 April 1895
Place of birth	Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Date of death	5 February 1988
Place of death	London, England