Professor Sir Edmund Happold (November 8, 1930 - January 12, 1996), commonly known as Ted Happold , was a structural engineer and founder of Buro Happold.
Video Edmund Happold
Careers
Happold is the son of Frank Happold, Professor of Biochemistry at Leeds University. After experiencing an unpleasant period at Leeds Grammar School, (where he refused, as a pacifist, to join the Junior-sponsored Junior Training Corps), he was sent to Bootham School, York. He studied geology at the University of Leeds. His mother was a lifelong socialist. As a lifelong Quaker, he was listed as a repellent of conscience when called to do National Service, and was directed to work as a farm laborer and then a truck driver and dragline operator. This aroused his interest in construction, so he returned to Leeds University, where he obtained a BSc in Civil Engineering in 1957. After graduation, he spent a short time at Alvar Aalto's office before joining Ove Arup and Partners on the recommendation architect. Basil Spence. At Ove Arup and Partners, he worked with Povl Ahm, an engineer for St. Michael's Cathedral in Coventry. Happold studied architecture at night.
In 1959 Happold moved to work with Fred Severud (a civil engineer whose work included the structural design of Madison Square Garden and Gateway Arch in St. Louis, and engineer for Eero Saarinen who died June 1990 in Miami Florida) in New York, before returning to London for worked with Ove Arup and Partners in 1961. At that time, Borough Lambeth Architect, Ted Hollamby sought intelligent and socially motivated engineers who could help with public building engineering and Happold was recommended for the role. Important developments at Lambeth are housing in Central Hill, in Kennington and the public library and auditorium in West Norwood, which Happold chose as the venue for his marriage with his wife Eve.
After becoming Structural Head 3 at Ove Arup and Partners in 1967, he worked in landmark buildings such as the Sydney Opera House and Pompidou Center, which Richard Rogers told a lecture at Bath University: 'Of course, it's all Ted's idea'.
He collaborated with Frei Otto, setting up a laboratory to study lightweight structures with Ian Liddell, Vera Straka, Peter Rice, and Michael Dickson.
Leaving Arup in 1976 after Arup refused to allow him to start an office in Bath, he became professor of Architecture and Engineering Design at the University of Bath and founded Buro Happold with seven colleagues. He helped set up the Window and Cladding Technology Center in Bath, as well as a research group in an air supported structure.
He was appointed as the Royal Designer for Industry, a member of the Design Council, the Vice President of the Royal Society of Arts, and the Master of Royal Designer for Industry. He also founded the Building Industry Council, then became the Construction Industry Council, and President of the Institute of Structural Engineers in 1986-1987. He died at his home in Bath pending a heart transplant.
Maps Edmund Happold
Awards
Among other awards, he received the Guthrie Brown Medal in 1970, the Eiffel Medal from Ecole Centrale de Paris, the Kerensky Medal from the International Association for Bridges and Structural Designs and the IStructE Gold Medal in 1991. He became a knight in 1994 for his services to engineering, architecture, and education.
Selected projects
- Bootham School, 1964
- Riyadh Conference Center, 1967
- Barracks of Hyde Park, London, 1970
- Pompidou Center, 1971-1977
- Aviary at Tierpark Hellabrunn, Munich, 1978-1982
- Hooke Park, Dorset, 1985-1991
References
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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