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David H. Geiger
David H. Geiger (1935 – October 3, 1989) was an American engineer who invented the Air-supported structure, air-supported fabric roof system that at the time of his death was in use at almost half the domed stadiums in the world. Geiger was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, received a bachelor's degree from Drexel University, master's degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and PhD in engineering from Columbia University. While an adjunct professor at Columbia University with a part-time engineering practice, Geiger designed the enclosure for the United States pavilion at Expo '70 in Osaka, Japan. He had been tapped after the architecture firm Davis Brody Bond, Davis-Brody won the design contest for the building. Davis Brody's winning design was a 30-story high air filled "pumpkin" atop the pavilion and they needed an engineer with the expertise to implement it. Geiger was designing the US Pavilion to be capable of withstanding Japan's earthquakes and typhoons w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air-supported Structure
An air-supported (or air-inflated) structure is any building that derives its structural integrity from the use of internal pressurized air to inflate a pliable material (i.e. structural fabric) envelope, so that air is the main support of the structure, and where access is via airlocks. The first air-supported structure built in history was the radome manufactured at the Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory in 1948 by Walter Bird. The concept was implemented on a large scale by David H. Geiger with the United States pavilion at Expo '70 in Osaka, Japan in 1970. It is usually dome-shaped, since this shape creates the greatest volume for the least amount of material. To maintain structural integrity, the structure must be pressurized such that the internal pressure equals or exceeds any external pressure being applied to the structure (i.e. wind pressure). The structure does not have to be airtight to retain structural integrity—as long as the pressurization system that suppli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
