Historical surveys of modern architecture often begin with a celebration of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century structural engineering, citing works such as the iron bridge at Coalbrookdale and the frame of the Home Insurance Building. But as the narratives advance into the twentieth century, such illustrations become less frequent, leaving awkward thematic gaps and a view of architecture that accounts poorly for structure, construction, and materials. Efforts to reframe the story have been hampered by a lack of publications bridging the disciplines of architecture and engineering. Andrew Saint's recent Architect and Engineer: A Study in Sibling Rivalry makes a valuable contribution to this end.1 For its part, the Museum of Modern Art has published the Felix Candela Lectures, which were presented from 1998 to 2005 in conjunction with the schools of architecture at MIT and Princeton University and the Structural Engineers Association...
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September 2011
