Ove Arup was arguably one of the greatest engineers of the 20th century. Born in
1895 in Newcastle upon Tyne in England to Scandinavian parents, he first studied
philosophy and graduated from the University of Copenhagen in 1916. Six years later, he
received a second degree in engineering. This wide-ranging interest and curiosity was to
influence both his own work and that of others with whom he consulted. Throughout his
life—his practice Ove Arup and Partners grew to include more than 50 offices in 40
countries with a staff of almost 4,000—he retained a speculative yet rigorously
questioning approach to design.
Having qualified as a civil engineer and with a special interest in reinforced concrete,
Arup joined the Danish company Christiani and Nielsen in 1922, a company that
designed and built civil engineering structures. He worked in Hamburg before moving to
their London office, where he became chief designer in 1925.
With this experience not only in the design but also in the construction of structures,
Arup became increasingly interested in developing a holistic approach to design. His
particular skill in the use of a new material, reinforced concrete, created opportunities for
him to work with other designers who were committed to the ideals of the Modern
movement. Collaborating with Tecton (a group of young architects in London) and with
Berthold Lubetkin in particular, Arup was to play an influential role in the design of a
several iconic buildings of the period. The first was the Gorilla House (1933) at the
London Zoo, followed by the Penguin Pool (1934). Both explored the fluid forms made
possible by using reinforced concrete. He went on to work with Lubetkin on the design of
Highpoint One. This residential building in London was also built in reinforced concrete
but explored the potential of the material to create an eight-story tower.
The construction of Highpoint coincided with Arup’s move in 1934 to join J.L.Kier
and Company, the contractors who built the scheme. This project was especially
significant because it allowed Arup and Lubetkin to work on a design that required the
complete integration of architecture, structure, and building method. As a result, Arup
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became increasingly enthusiastic about collaboration between the professions in building
design, an enthusiasm that motivated his own practice.
Established in 1946, the practice was formerly called Ove Arup and
Partners, Consulting Engineers, in 1949, flourishing in the postwar period with the reconstruction of cities and the design of numerous new
buildings and improved infrastructure. Arup was sought out by an increasing number of
architects, especially those who were interested in innovative forms of engineering,
integrative design, and the use of new materials. His work at this time included the
Brynmawr Rubber Factory (1952, Gwent) in Wales, designed with Architects Co-
Partnership; Michael Scott’s Bus Station and Offices (1952) in Dublin; and the
Hunstanton School (1954, London), designed by Alison and Peter Smithson. After the
young Danish architect Jørn Utzon won the competition to design the Sydney Opera
House in Australia in 1957, he asked Arup to collaborate on the design. Arup played a
central role in the translation of the architect’s early sketches into an outstanding building
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defined by the famous series of elegant vaulted roofs. After the building opened to
acclaim in 1973, the material research and design studies established Arup’s reputation as
an engineer of great creativity and international standing.
Arup designed a number of significant civil engineering projects, including the
Kingsgate Footbridge (1963) over the River Wear in Durham, England. He brought
together structural and civil engineers, environmental engineers, building economists, and
architects in a parallel partnership, Arup Associates, to design buildings and engineering
structures. Ove Arup and Partners grew as a multidisciplinary consultancy and became
one of the largest engineering design practices in the world. This collaborative,
interprofessional way of working enhanced talent and made the practice a center for
design innovation and research. After the Sydney Opera House, Arup and his colleagues
worked with the German engineer Frei Otto on the development of lightweight structures,
studies that were to result in projects such as the Garden Pavilion (1975) in Mannheim.
Collaboration with Richard Rogers and Renzo Piano on their competition entry for the
Centre Pompidou in Paris was awarded first prize in 1971. In 1979 a further collaboration
with Richard Rogers and another with Norman Foster resulted in successful designs for
limited competitions for new headquarters buildings for Lloyds of London (1979–85) and
the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank (completed in 1986) in Hong Kong. Arup also
continued to work with Renzo Piano on numerous projects, including the Menil Gallery
(1984) and Kansai International Airport (1988–94).
Arup advocated a way of working that not only brought together many of the
disciplines to generate ideas at the beginning of the design process but that also created
multidisciplinary teams that directed projects through to completion. Many other
significant engineers emerged from the practice, including Jack Zunz, Ted Happold, Tom
Barker, Peter Rice, Jane Wernick, Chris Wise, and Cecil Balmond.
Arup received the Royal Gold Medal for Architecture in 1966 and in 1971 was
knighted by the queen of England for his services to architecture and engineering. His
inspiration created a practice that has been central to the development of outstanding
architecture and structural design worldwide. He remained actively involved in practice
until his death in 1988.
