Sculpture on a Grand Scale by Tyler Sprague

Sculpture on a Grand Scale by Tyler Sprague

The Kingdome, John (“Jack”) Christiansen’s best-known work, was the largest freestanding concrete dome in the world. Built amid public controversy, the multipurpose arena was designed to stand for a thousand years but was demolished in a great cloud of dust after less than a quarter century.Many know the fate of Seattle’s iconic dome, but fewer are familiar with its innovative structural engineer, Jack Christensen (1927–2017), and his significant contribution to Pacific Northwest and modernist architecture. Christiansen designed more than a hundred projects in the region: public schools and gymnasiums, sculptural church spaces, many of the Seattle Center’s 1962 World’s Fair buildings, and the Museum of Flight’s vast glass roof all reflect his expressive ideas. Inspired by Northwest topography and drawn to the region’s mountains and profound natural landscapes, Christiansen employed hyperbolic paraboloid forms, barrel-vault structures, and efficient modular construction to echo and complement the forms he loved in nature. Notably, he became an enthusiastic proponent of using thin shell concrete—the Kingdome being the most prominent example—to create inexpensive, utilitarian space on a large scale.Tyler Sprague places Christiansen within a global cohort of thin shell engineer-designers, exploring the use of a remarkable structural medium known for its minimal use of material, architectually expressive forms, and long-span capability. Examining Christiansen’s creative design and engineering work, Sprague, who interviewed Christiansen extensively, illuminates his legacy of graceful, distinctive concrete architectural forms, highlighting their lasting imprint on the region’s built environment.A Michael J. Repass Book

"[A] seminal text on the built environment of the Pacific Northwest"

* Pacific Norhwest History *

Tyler S. Sprague is assistant professor in the Department of Architecture at the University of Washington and serves on the boards of the Construction History Society of America and the Western Washington chapter of Docomomo.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780295745619
ISBN 10	0295745614
Title	Sculpture on a Grand Scale
Author	Tyler Sprague
Series	Sculpture On A Grand Scale
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	University of Washington Press
Year published	2019-07-22
Number of pages	304
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.