- Vladimir Shukhov
Vladimir Grigoryevich Shukhov ( _ru. Владимир Григорьевич Шухов), (OldStyleDate|August 28|1853|August 16 -
February 2 1939 ) was aRussia nengineer -polymath ,scientist andarchitect renowned for his pioneering works on new methods of analysis forstructural engineering that led to breakthroughs inindustrial design of world's firstshyperboloid structure s [ cite web | title = Hyperboloid water tower | year = 2007 | publisher = Nicolas Janburg, ICS | work = International Database and Gallery of Structures | url = http://en.structurae.de/structures/data/index.cfm?ID=s0037128 | accessdate = 2007-11-28] , shell structures [ cite web | title = Rotunda of the Panrussian Exposition | year = 2007 | publisher = Nicolas Janburg, ICS | work = International Database and Gallery of Structures | url = http://en.structurae.de/structures/data/index.cfm?ID=s0000385 | accessdate = 2007-11-28] ,tensile structure s [ cite web | title = Rotunda of the Panrussian Exposition | year = 2007 | publisher = Nicolas Janburg, ICS | work = International Database and Gallery of Structures | url = http://en.structurae.de/structures/data/index.cfm?ID=s0000385 | accessdate = 2007-11-28] ,gridshell structures [ cite web | title = Rotunda of the Panrussian Exposition | year = 2007 | publisher = Nicolas Janburg, ICS | work = International Database and Gallery of Structures | url = http://en.structurae.de/structures/data/index.cfm?ID=s0000385 | accessdate = 2007-11-28] ,oil reservoir s, pipelines,boiler s, ships andbarge s.Besides the innovations he brought to the oil industry and the construction of numerous bridges and buildings, Shukhov was the inventor of a new family of doubly-curved structural forms. These forms, based on non-Euclidean hyperbolic
geometry , are known today ashyperboloid s of revolution. Shukhov developed not only many varieties of light-weight hyperboloidtower s androof systems, but also the mathematics for their analysis. Shukhov is particularly reputed for his original designs of hyperboloid towers such as theShukhov Tower .Biography
Vladimir Shukhov was born in a town of
Graivoron ,Belgorod uezd ,Kursk gubernia (in present-dayBelgorod Oblast ) into a petty noble family. His father Grigory Ivanovich Shukhov was a minor government official, promoted for his efforts in theCrimean War . For a while Grigory served asMayor of Graivoron and later as an administrator inWarsaw .In 1864 Vladimir entered
Saint Petersburg gymnasium from which he graduated with distinction in 1871. During his high school years he showed mathematical talents, once demonstrating to his classmates and teacher an original proof of thePythagorean theorem . The teacher praised his skills but he failed the grade for violating the textbook's guidelines.After graduating from the gymnasium, Shukhov entered the Imperial Moscow Technical School, in which his teachers included
Pafnuty Chebyshev ,Aleksey Letnikov , and Nikolay Zhukovsky. In 1876 Shukhov graduated from the school with distinction and a Gold Medal. Chebyshev proposed him a job as a lecturer in mathematics at the Imperial Moscow Technical School, but Shukhov decided to seek a job in the industry instead.Thereupon Shukhov went to
Philadelphia , to work on the Russian pavilion at theWorld's Fair and to study the inner workings of the American industry. During his stay in the US Shukhov came to know a Russian-American entrepreneur, Alexander Veniaminovich Bari (Александр Вениаминович Бари) who also worked on the organization of the Fair.In 1877 Shukhov returned to Russia and joined the drafting office of the Warsaw-
Vienna railroad. Within several months, Shukhov's frustration with standard and routine engineering made him abandon the office and join a military-medical academy.On his coming to Russia in 1877, Bari persuaded Shukhov to give up his medical education and to assume the office of Chief Engineer in a new company specializing in innovative engineering. Shukhov worked with Bari at this company until the
October Revolution . Their works revolutionized many areas of civil engineering, ship engineering, and oil industry. The thermal cracking method, theShukhov cracking process , was patented by Vladimir Shukhov in 1891.Shukhov always found time for a passionate
hobby - photography. The [http://www.shukhov.org/fotos.html Photographic works of Shukhov] opened new trends ahead of their flourishing ofFine art photography . He made photos in variousgenre s:reporting , citylandscape ,portrait , constructivism. About two thousand photos and negatives made by Shukhov have survived until this day.After the October Revolution Shukhov decided to stay in the
Soviet Union despite having received alluring job offers from around the world. Many signal Soviet engineering projects of the 1920s were associated with his name. In 1919 he framed his slogan: "We should work independently from politics. The buildings, boilers, beams would be needed and so would we". In the later 1930s during theGreat Purge he retired from engineering work but was not arrested or persecuted.Shukov died on
February 2 1939 in Moscow and was buried at the Novodevichy Cemetery. His many honours included theLenin Prize (1929) and the title of Hero of Labour (1928).Works
Vladimir Shukhov is often referred as the Russian
Edison for the sheer quantity and quality of his pioneering works. He was one of the first to develop practical calculations of stresses anddeformation s of beams, shells and membranes on elastic foundation. These theoretical results allowed him to design the first Russian oil tanker, new types of oil tanker barges, and a new type of oil reservoirs. The same principle of the shell on an elastic foundation allowed to theoretically calculate the optimal diameter, wall thickness and fluid speed for the fluid pipelines. Shukhov's projects were instrumental in constructing:*An oil pipeline, the first in the
Russian Empire , between Balkhany and Cherny Gorod nearBaku (12 km, 1878 complete, used by theBranobel ). By 1883 the total length of Shukhov-designed, Bari-built oil pipelines in Baku exceeded 94 km, transporting 30 thousandsbarrel s of oil per day. In 1894 a similar pipeline network was built inGrozny . Shukhov designed the first Trans-Caucasiankerosene pipeline between Baku and Batum (835 km long) and Grozny-Tuapse pipeline (618km long).*A superior design for water-mains. Shukhov designed (and Bari built) complete water-supply systems for the cities of
Tambov ,Kharkov ,Voronezh and many others. In that age of infectious diseases his water-supply systems literally saved thousands of lives.
*A superior design for oil-tanker barges (less than half of the metal previously required), 84 150-meters long barges were built (mostly for theVolga river) as well as the first Russian sea-worthyoil tanker ship. His approach to the ship strength analysis (using the model of a shell on an elastic foundation) was absolutely novel for that time.
*Shukhov-designed inexpensive oil tanks with the bottom calculated as a membrane on elastic foundation. They became very popular among oil-producers of the Imperial Russia. By 1881, 130 such tanks were built inBaku alone.Shukhov made important contributions to the chemical industry:
*He designed and built an
oil cracking plant. His patents (Shukhov cracking process - patent of Russian empire No. 12926 from November, 27th, 1891) on cracking were used to invalidateStandard Oil 's patents (Burton process – Patent of USA No. 1,049,667 on January 7, 1913) on oil refineries.*He designed an original oil
pump . Shukhov's pumps revolutionized Baku's oil industry allowing to increase its oil output.
*He designed one of the firstfurnace s that used theresidual oil : before his works the residual oil was considered a waste and was discarded, due to his works it became recognized as an important technical product known as a "fuel oil".Shukhov also left a lasting legacy to the
Constructivist architecture of early Soviet Russia. As a leading specialist of metallic structures (hyperboloid structure s,thin-shell structure s,tensile structure s), he may be compared withGustave Eiffel . Shukhov's innovative and exquisite constructions still grace many towns across the formerRussian Empire :*Eight
thin-shell structure s exhibition pavilions for the All-Russia Exhibition inNizhny Novgorod of 1896, covering the area of 27,000 m², and featuring an unorthodox water-tower that served as a model for more than 30 similar structures built in Imperial Russia, and thousands around the world now.
*About 200 original towers (hyperboloid steelgridshell s) all over the world, the most famous being the 160-meter-highShukhov Tower in Moscow (1922) and 70-meter-high [http://www.architectureweek.com/2003/0820/culture_1-1.html Adziogol Lighthouse] nearKherson (1910). On Shukhov's 110th birthday in 1963Soviet Union issued a postal stamp showing Shukhov and his tower (pictured).
*Spacious elongated shop galleries, bridged with innovative metal-and-glass vaults, notably theUpper Trade Rows onRed Square (1889-94), Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts (1898-1912) andPetrovka Passage (1903-06).
*Enormous metal arch vaulting for the Municipal Railway Park (1908) and the Kievskiy Railway Station in Moscow (1912-17).
*The colossal hall of the Central Post Office, Moscow (1911-13).
*Truss-supported metal framework for the Central Universal Store in Moscow (1906-08).
*A rotating scene for theMoscow Art Theatre .
*Several Constructivist projects, designed in collaboration withKonstantin Melnikov , notably theBakhmetevsky Bus Garage (1926-28) andNovo-Ryazanskaya Street Garage (1926-29).
*More than 180bridge s across theVolga ,Yenisey ,Dnieper , and other rivers.
*StabilizationMinaret of theMadrasah Ulugh Beg inSamarkand (Shukhov's last engineering work).ee also
*
Gridshell
*Hyperboloid structure
* Tensile and membrane structures
*Constructivist architecture
*Shukhov cracking process
*All-Russia exhibition 1896
*History of structural engineering Major works
* Grozny-Tuapse pipeline
*Shukhov Tower
*Shukhov Rotunda
*Adziogol Lighthouse
* The world's first Hyperboloid structure
*Shukhov tower on the Oka River
*Pushkin Museum
* Moscow GUM
*Novo-Ryazanskaya Street Garage
*Bakhmetevsky Bus Garage
* Kievskiy Railway Station
*Hotel Metropol (Moscow)
*Petrovsky Passage References
* Kevin O'Flynn, [http://www.moscowtimes.ru/arts/2008/06/06/363536.htm Disappearing Towers]
* [http://www.shukhov.org/news.html?n=34&id=1#news_34 International campaign to save the Shukhov Tower in Moscow]
* Peter Gössel, Gabriele Leuthäuser, Eva Schickler: [http://eng.archinform.net/quellen/10.htm “Architecture in the 20th century”] , Taschen Verlag; 1990, ISBN 3-8228-1162-9 and ISBN 3-8228-0550-5
* [http://www.shukhov.org/shukhov.html Biography of Shukhov]
* [http://www.transneft.ru/About/History/Default.asp?LANG=EN Shukhov and Oil Industry] , [http://www.competence-site.de/1779/meerestechnik.nsf/DBBF606A45D7369AC1257203002E28FA/$File/tastes_bad_but_burns_well.pdf]
* – architectural works
* "The Nijni-Novgorod exhibition: Water tower, room under construction, springing of 91 feet span", "The Engineer", № 19.3.1897, P.292-294, London, 1897.
* William Craft Brumfield: [http://content.cdlib.org/view?docId=ft1g5004bj&chunk.id=d0e122 "The Origins of Modernism in Russian Architecture"] , University of California Press, 1991, ISBN 0-520-06929-3.
* [http://spec.lib.vt.edu/IAWA/inventories/English.html Elizabeth C. English] : [http://www.pubs.asce.org/WWWdisplay.cgi?0510374 "Invention of Hyperboloid Structures"] , Metropolis & Beyond, 2005.
* [http://spec.lib.vt.edu/IAWA/inventories/English.html Elizabeth C. English] : [http://repository.upenn.edu/dissertations/AAI9989589/ “Arkhitektura i mnimosti”: The origins of Soviet avant-garde rationalist architecture in the Russian mystical-philosophical and mathematical intellectual tradition”,] a dissertation in architecture, 264 p., University of Pennsylvania, 2000.
* Valeri Fedorov: "Telecommunications grid architecture in the former Soviet Union", Global Consultants, 1992, ISBN 1-881874-07-9
* [http://www.shukhov.org/fotos.html Photographic works of Shukhov]* [http://www.i-b.ch/01_Buero/Tec21_Suchov.pdf Die sparsame Konstruktion]
* Rainer Graefe, Jos Tomlow: “Vladimir G. Suchov 1853-1939. Die Kunst der sparsamen Konstruktion.”, 192 S., Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart, 1990, ISBN 3-421-02984-9.
* Jesberg, Paulgerd: "Die Geschichte der Bauingenieurkunst", Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart (Germany) , ISBN 3-421-03078-2, 1996; pp. 198-9.
* Ricken, Herbert: "Der Bauingenieur", Verlag für Bauwesen, Berlin (Germany) , ISBN 3-345-00266-3, 1994; pp. 230.
* [http://nr00170.vhost.sil.at/files/das_katalanische_gewlbe.pdf Suchov und Gaudi]
* Picon, Antoine (dir.): "L'art de l'ingenieur : constructeur, entrepreneur, inventeur", Éditions du Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 1997, ISBN 2-85850-911-5
* Fausto Giovannardi: [http://www.costruzioni.net/articoli/Shukhov/Shukhov.pdf "Vladimir G. Shukhov e la leggerezza dell’acciaio"] , Borgo San Lorenzo, 2007.
* Шухов В. Г.: Избранные труды, том 1, «Строительная механика», 192 стр., под ред. А. Ю. Ишлинского, Академия наук СССР, Москва, 1977.
* Шухов В. Г.: Избранные труды, том 2, «Гидротехника», 222 стр., под ред. А. Е. Шейндлина, Академия наук СССР, Москва, 1981.
* Шухов В. Г.: Избранные труды, том 3, «Нефтепереработка. Теплотехника», 102 стр., под ред. А. Е. Шейндлина, Академия наук СССР, Москва, 1982.
* Грефе Р. и др.: [http://www.oglibrary.ru/data/demo/5644/5644.html «В. Г. Шухов (1853—1939). Искусство конструкции.»] , «Мир», Москва, 1994, ISBN 5-03-002917-6.
* Лейбензон Л.С., [http://www.oil-industry.ru/images/upload/Arhiv_Jurnala/1932_10_202_Leybenson.pdf «Наука на службе нефтяной техники в СССР»] , «Нефтяное хозяйство», №4, 2005.
* Шухова Е. М.: «Владимир Григорьевич Шухов. Первый инженер России.», 368 стр., Изд. МГТУ, Москва, 2003, ISBN 5-7038-2295-5.
* "В.Г.Шухов - выдающийся инженер и ученый", Труды Объединенной научной сессии Академии наук СССР, посвященной научному и инженерному творчеству почетного академика В.Г.Шухова. М.: Наука, 1984, 96 с.
* Петропавловская И.А.: "Владимир Григорьевич Шухов, 1853-1939", Москва, "Наука", 2004, ISBN 5-02-033173-2.Photos of Works
Persondata
NAME=Shukhov, Vladimir Grigorievich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=Шухов, Владимир Григорьевич (Russian)
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Russia n engineer
DATE OF BIRTH=August 28 ,1853
PLACE OF BIRTH=Graivoron ,Kursk gubernia
DATE OF DEATH=February 2 1939
PLACE OF DEATH=Moscow
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