Sir Ove Nyquist Arup (16 April 1895 – 5 February 1988) was an English engineer who founded

Arup Group Limited Arup Group Limited, trading as Arup, is a British multinational professional services firm headquartered in London that provides design, engineering, architecture, planning, and advisory services across every aspect of the built environment. ...

, a

multinational corporation A multinational corporation (MNC; also called a multinational enterprise (MNE), transnational enterprise (TNE), transnational corporation (TNC), international corporation, or stateless corporation, is a corporate organization that owns and cont ...

offering 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. Some researchers regard the evolution of forethought - the cap ...

project management Project management is the process of supervising the work of a Project team, team to achieve all project goals within the given constraints. This information is usually described in project initiation documentation, project documentation, crea ...

, and

consulting A consultant (from "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice or services in an area of specialization (generally to medium or large-size corporations). Cons ...

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 List of structural elements, 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 ...

s of his time.

Personal life and education

Arup was born in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

, 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 influenced by

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 widel ...

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

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

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...

and in 1918 enrolled in an engineering degree at the

Technical University of Denmark The Technical University of Denmark (), 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 first polytechnic, and it is today ran ...

, Copenhagen, specializing 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 architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...

and his publication ''Vers une architecture'', published that year, as well as by

Walter Gropius Walter Adolph Georg Gropius (; 18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was a German-born American architect and founder of the Bauhaus, Bauhaus School, who is widely regarded as one of the pioneering masters of modernist architecture. He was a founder of ...

, the founder of the

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

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

Working life

Before WWII

In 1922, Ove Arup began working with the Danish firm

Christiani & Nielsen Christiani & Nielsen was a construction contractor with major operations worldwide. It still trades in Thailand. History Christiani & Nielsen was established by Rudolf Christiani, a Danish civil engineer, and Aage Nielsen, a captain in the Roya ...

in Hamburg, 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 located on the promenade of the 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 remains the only building solely designed by Arup. Arup then worked as a structural consultant for 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, as well as on projects at Whipsnade Zoo,

Dudley Zoo Dudley Zoo & Castle (previously Dudley Zoological Gardens) is a zoo within a 200-acre densely-wooded site located within the grounds of Dudley Castle in the town of Dudley, in the Black Country region of the West Midlands, England. The zoo ope ...

, a villa in Heath Drive, Romford, Essex, and

Highpoint I Highpoint I was the first of two apartment blocks erected in the 1930s on one of the highest points in London, England, in Highgate. The architectural design was by the Georgian-British architect Berthold Lubetkin, the structural design by th ...

in Highgate—a building he later criticized. 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 Russian-born British architecture, architect who pioneered International style (architecture), modernist design in Britain in the 1930s. His work includes the Highpoint I ...

proved highly significant in advancing both men's careers. He subsequently joined the London construction company J. L. Kier & Co. as director and chief designer from 1934 to 1938. During the 1930s, Arup also collaborated with notable architects such as

Ernő Goldfinger Ernő Goldfinger (11 September 1902 – 15 November 1987) was a Hungarian-born British architect and furniture designer. He moved to the United Kingdom in the 1930s, and became a key member of the modernist architecture, Modernist architectur ...

Wells Coates Wells Wintemute Coates (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 block ...

Maxwell Fry Edwin Maxwell Fry, CBE, RA, FRIBA, F RTPI (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 the new modernist style, ...

, Yorke, Rosenberg & Mardall, and

Marcel Breuer Marcel Lajos Breuer ( ; 21 May 1902 – 1 July 1981) was a Hungarian-American modernist architect and furniture designer. He moved to the United States in 1937 and became a naturalized American citizen in 1944. At the Bauhaus he designed the Was ...

. In 1935, he became a member of the executive committee of the MARS Group. In 1938, he and his cousin Arne founded ''Arup & Arup Limited'', a firm of engineers and

contractors A contractor (North American English) or builder (British English), is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the c ...

World War II

Before World War II, Ove Arup was a member of 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 a ...

(ARP) organising committee, where he advised Finsbury Council on the provision of bomb shelters. During the war, he published several papers on shelter policy and designs, advocating for reinforced concrete mass shelters as opposed to the government’s policy of dispersing the population in small domestic shelters. However, most of his recommendations were not adopted due to political reasons, though some affluent Londoners were able to build concrete shelters based on his designs. Arup played a significant role 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 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

landings. The Mulberry Harbour was a type of temporary

harbour A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see American and British English spelling differences#-our, -or, spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be Mooring, moored. The t ...

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 liberation of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the N ...

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

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

across the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

and assembled off the coast of

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

as part of the

invasion of France in 1944.

Arup & Partners

In 1946, after dissolving Arup & Arup Ltd, Ove Arup 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''. In 1963, a further company, ''

Arup Associates Arup Group Limited, trading as Arup, is a British multinational professional services firm headquartered in London that provides design, engineering, architecture, planning, and advisory services across every aspect of the built environment. ...

'',Brawne, 1983. was formed as a new partnership. This body included architects and engineers working on an equal basis as building designers, including 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 multidisciplinary company providing engineering, architectural, and other services for the built environment. Arup himself noted that ultimately, all of the Arup entities resulted in a firm known simply as '' Arup''.

Notable projects

Highpoint I

, built in 1935, was an important experiment in high-rise residential design and one of Arup's most significant collaborations with

. However, Arup later criticized the project, noting that it had significant flaws.

Kingsgate Bridge

Ove Arup personally supervised the design and construction of Durham's

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

in 1963. As the firm's first bridge project, Arup held a particular attachment to it, and after his death, his ashes were scattered from the bridge. A bust of Arup, 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 The Van Ginkel Footbridge is a heritage-designated cantilever pedestrian bridge, located in Bowring Park, St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. Architects Sandy Van Ginkel and Blanche Lemco van Ginkel, recognized for combining urban planning wit ...

is located 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. It is located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland. The city spans and is the easternmost city in North Ame ...

, Canada. It is a cantilever bridge, meaning it is anchored to the ground on one end, while the other end extends outward, unsupported. The bridge was granted heritage designation in 2020. The architect of the bridge was

Blanche Lemco van Ginkel Blanche Lemco van Ginkel (14 December 1923 – 20 October 2022) was a British-born Canadian architect, city planner, and educator who worked mostly in Montreal and Toronto. She is known for her Modern architecture, Modernist designs, as well as ...

, who received the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada's Gold Medal for lifetime achievement.

Sydney Opera House

Arup served as the design engineer for the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

in Sydney, Australia, from the project's inception in 1957 until its completion in 1973. This iconic building, which made groundbreaking use of

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

, 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 advantage ...

, and computer analysis, significantly bolstered Arup's reputation, as well as that of his firm, despite the extremely challenging working relationship with the architect,

Jørn Utzon Jørn Oberg Utzon (; 9 April 191829 November 2008) was a Danish architect. In 1957, he won an international design competition for his design of the Sydney Opera House in Australia. Utzon's revised design, which he completed in 1961, was the b ...

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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(CBE) * 1965: Knight First Class of the

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

* 1966:

Royal Gold Medal The Royal Gold Medal for architecture is awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects on behalf of the British monarch, in recognition of an individual's or group's substantial contribution to international architecture. It is gi ...

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 suppl ...

* 1971:

Knight Bachelor The title of Knight Bachelor is the basic rank granted to a man who has been knighted by the monarch but not inducted as a member of one of the organised Order of chivalry, orders of chivalry; it is a part of the Orders, decorations, and medals ...

* 1973: Gold Medal of the

Institution of Structural Engineers The Institution of Structural Engineers is a British professional body for structural engineers. In 2021, it had 29,900 members operating in 112 countries. It provides professional accreditation and publishes a magazine, '' The Structural Eng ...

* 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 hon ...

from

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University () 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 was subsequently granted university status by roya ...

* 1987:

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

Notes

References

* * 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 Engineers from Newcastle upon Tyne Royal Academicians University of Copenhagen alumni 20th-century Danish engineers

Ove Arup Sir Ove Nyquist Arup (16 April 1895 – 5 February 1988) was an English engineer who founded Arup Group Limited, a multinational corporation offering engineering, design, planning, project management, and consultant, consulting services for bu ...

20th-century English engineers