Sir Ove Nyquist Arup, CBE,

MICE A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus'' ...

, MIStructE, FCIOB (16 April 1895 – 5 February 1988) was an English engineer who founded Arup Group Limited, a

multinational corporation A multinational company (MNC), also referred to as a multinational enterprise (MNE), a transnational enterprise (TNE), a transnational corporation (TNC), an international corporation or a stateless corporation with subtle but contrasting senses, i ...

that offers engineering, design,

planning Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. The evolution of forethought, the capacity to think ahead, is c ...

project management Project management is the process of leading the work of a team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project documentation, created at the beginning of the development process. T ...

, and

consulting A consultant (from la, consultare "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice and other purposeful activities in an area of specialization. Consulting servic ...

services for building systems.Jones, 2006. Ove Arup is considered to be among the foremost architectural

structural engineer Structural engineers analyze, design, plan, and research structural components and structural systems to achieve design goals and ensure the safety and comfort of users or occupants. Their work takes account mainly of safety, technical, economi ...

s of his time.

Personal life and education

Arup was born in Newcastle, England, in 1895, to the Danish veterinary surgeon Jens Simon Johannes Arup and his Norwegian wife, Mathilde Bolette Nyquist. Arup attended the Sorø Academy in Denmark, a boarding school with many influences from

Thomas Arnold Thomas Arnold (13 June 1795 – 12 June 1842) was an English educator and historian. He was an early supporter of the Broad Church Anglican movement. As headmaster of Rugby School from 1828 to 1841, he introduced several reforms that were wide ...

of the

Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. ...

in the United Kingdom. In 1913, he began studying philosophy at

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...

and in 1918 enrolled for an engineering degree at the

Technical University of Denmark The Technical University of Denmark ( da, Danmarks Tekniske Universitet), often simply referred to as DTU, is a polytechnic university and school of engineering. It was founded in 1829 at the initiative of Hans Christian Ørsted as Denmark's fir ...

, Copenhagen, specialising in reinforced concrete. He completed his studies in 1922. At this time Ove Arup was influenced by

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...

and his publication ''Vers une architecture'', published that year; and also by Walter Gropius, the founder of the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...

movement. Arup married Ruth Sørensen, known as Li, on 13 August 1925.

Working life

Before WWII

In 1922, Ove Arup began work with a Danish firm in Hamburg called Christiani & Nielsen, and in December 1923 he moved to their London office as chief engineer.Jones, 2006. (p. 31). He designed the Labworth Café—a café with two integrated shelters set on the promenade of the neighbouring Essex seaside resort of

Canvey Island Canvey Island is a town, civil parish and reclaimed island in the Thames estuary, near Southend-on-Sea, in the Castle Point district, in the county of Essex, England. It has an area of and a population of 38,170.Office for National Statistics ...

. The café exists as the only building solely designed by Arup. He then worked as a structural consultant to the

Tecton The Tecton Group was a radical architectural group co-founded by Berthold Lubetkin, Francis Skinner, Denys Lasdun, Michael Dugdale, Anthony Chitty, Val Harding, Godfrey Samuel, and Lindsay Drake in 1932 and disbanded in 1939. The group was one ...

partnership, notably on the Penguin Pool at London's Regent's Park Zoo, Whipsnade Zoo, Dudley Zoo, as a construction supervisor for a villa in Heath Drive, Romford, Essex and on Highpoint I, Highgate (a building he was later highly critical of). The close working relationship that Arup developed with Tecton's senior partner

Berthold Lubetkin Berthold Romanovich Lubetkin (14 December 1901 – 23 October 1990) was a Georgian-British architect who pioneered modernist design in Britain in the 1930s. His work includes the Highpoint housing complex, the Penguin Pool at London Zoo, Fins ...

, proved to be highly important in the development of both men's careers. He moved next to a London construction company, J. L. Kier & Co. in London, as director and chief designer from 1934 to 1938, and during the 1930s he also worked with Ernő Goldfinger,

Wells Coates Wells Wintemute Coates OBE (December 17, 1895 – June 17, 1958) was an architect, designer and writer. He was, for most of his life, an expatriate Canadian who is best known for his work in England, the most notable of which is the Modernist ...

Maxwell Fry Edwin Maxwell Fry, CBE, RA, FRIBA, FRTPI, known as Maxwell Fry (2 August 1899 – 3 September 1987), was an English modernist architect, writer and painter. Originally trained in the neo-classical style of architecture, Fry grew to favour th ...

, Yorke, Rosenberg & Mardall and Marcel Breuer. He became a member of the executive committee of the MARS Group in 1935. In 1938, he and his cousin Arne founded ''Arup & Arup Limited'', a firm of engineers and contractors.

World War II

Before the war, Ove Arup was on the

Air Raid Precautions Air Raid Precautions (ARP) refers to a number of organisations and guidelines in the United Kingdom dedicated to the protection of civilians from the danger of air raids. Government consideration for air raid precautions increased in the 1920s an ...

organising committee and he advised Finsbury Council on the provision of bomb shelters. During the war he published a number of papers on shelter policy and designs, mainly advocating reinforced concrete mass shelters, rather than the government policy of dispersing the population in small domestic shelters. Largely for political reasons most of his recommendations were never adopted, although some wealthy Londoners were able to build concrete shelters according to his design. Arup played a significant part in the design of the Mulberry temporary harbours used during the

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

landings. The Mulberry Harbour was a type of temporary

harbour A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...

developed to offload cargo on the beaches during the

Allied invasion of Normandy Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Nor ...

. The sections for two prefabricated or artificial military harbours were taken with the invading army from Britain across the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" ( Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), ( Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Ka ...

and assembled off the coast of

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

as part of the

invasion of France in 1944.

Arup & Partners

In 1946, after dissolving Arup & Arup Ltd, he created a team of Civil and Structural Engineering consultants. In the same year, he formed his first partnership with Ronald Jenkins, Geoffrey Wood and Andrew Young called ''Arup and Partners''. A further company, ''Arup Associates'',Brawne, 1983. was formed in 1963 as a new partnership, a body of Architects and Engineers working on an equal basis as Building Designers: the engineer Ove Arup, the architects Francis Pym and

Philip Dowson Sir Philip Henry Manning Dowson (16 August 1924 – 22 August 2014) was a leading British architect. He served as President of the Royal Academy from 1993 to 1999. Early life Philip Dowson was born in South Africa. Having moved to England, he ...

, and the former partners of Arup and Partners. It was a multi-disciplinary company providing engineering, architectural, and other services for the built environment. Arup said himself that ultimately, all of the Arup names resulted in a firm called simply '' Arup''.

Notable projects

Highpoint I

Highpoint I, built in 1935, was an important experiment in high-rise residential design, and was one of Arup's most significant collaborations with Lubetkin. Arup later criticised the project as having significant flaws.

Kingsgate Bridge

Ove Arup personally supervised the design and construction of

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

Kingsgate Bridge Kingsgate Bridge is a striking, modern reinforced concrete construction footbridge across the River Wear, in Durham, England. It is a Grade I listed building. It was personally designed in 1963 by Ove Arup, the last structure he ever designed. ...

in 1963. The firm's first bridge, Arup was particularly attached to the project and had his ashes scattered from it following his death. A bust of Arup that was placed at one end of the Bridge was stolen in the summer of 2006 but has since been replaced. Kingsgate Bridge was the last structure designed by Arup.

Van Ginkel Footbridge

The mid-century Van Ginkel Footbridge is in Bowring Park,

St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North America ...

, Canada. It is a cantilever bridge, meaning it is anchored to the ground on only one end while the other side hovers. The bridge received heritage designation in 2020. The architect of the bridge was Blanche Lemco van Ginkel, who received the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada's gold medal for lifetime achievement.

Sydney Opera House

Arup was the design engineer for the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architec ...

in Sydney, Australia from the project's start in 1957 to its completion in 1973. An iconic building making groundbreaking use of

precast concrete Precast concrete is a construction product produced by casting concrete in a reusable mold or "form" which is then cured in a controlled environment, transported to the construction site and maneuvered into place; examples include precast b ...

, structural

glue Adhesive, also known as glue, cement, mucilage, or paste, is any non-metallic substance applied to one or both surfaces of two separate items that binds them together and resists their separation. The use of adhesives offers certain advant ...

and computer analysis, this made Arup's reputation, and that of his firm, despite the extremely difficult working relationship with the architect,

Jørn Utzon Jørn Oberg Utzon, , Hon. FAIA (; 9 April 191829 November 2008) was a Danish architect. He was most notable for designing the Sydney Opera House in Australia, completed in 1973. When it was declared a World Heritage Site on 28 June 2007, Utzon ...

Honours

* 1953

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(CBE) * 1965 Knight First Class of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known ...

* 1966 Royal Gold Medal of the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three supp ...

* 1971 British Knighthood * 1973 Gold Medal of the

Institution of Structural Engineers The Institution of Structural Engineers is a professional body for structural engineering based in the United Kingdom. The Institution has over 30,000 members operating in over 100 countries. The Institution provides professional accreditation ...

* 1975 Knight Commander First Class of the

* 1976

Honorary Doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

from

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted univ ...

* 1987

Royal Academician The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its purp ...

Notes

References

* https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chartered_Institute_of_Building * Brawne, Michael. (1983). ''Arup Associates: The biography of an architectural practice''. London: Lund Humphries. (casebound) (paperback) * Bettley, James. (2008)
Essex Explored: Essex Architecture.
Essex County Council. Retrieved 2008-06-17. * * English Heritage. (2007). National Monuments Records: Images of England. Detailed Record
Details for IoE Number: 461758
Retrieved: 2008-02-18. * Glynn, Simon. (1998–2006)
Penguin Pool London Zoo by Berthold Lubetkin
Galinsky. Retrieved 2008-06-17. * *

External links

Twentieth Century Society: article on Dudley Zoo
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Arup, Ove English people of Norwegian descent IStructE Gold Medal winners Recipients of the Royal Gold Medal 1895 births 1988 deaths English people of Danish descent Commanders of the Order of the British Empire British structural engineers Knights Bachelor People from Newcastle upon Tyne Royal Academicians University of Copenhagen alumni 20th-century Danish engineers

Ove Arup buildings and structures Ove or OVE may refer to * Ove (given name) * Ové, a surname * Ove Peak in Antarctica *'' A Man Called Ove (novel)'', a novel by Fredrik Backman *'' A Man Called Ove'', a 2015 Swedish film based on the novel * Danish Organisation for Renewable Ener ...

20th-century British engineers