Engineering + Arts

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The Art of Engineering

There is more than one solution to an engineering problem and this reality opens the door to creativity and the arts in engineering. My work in this realm is inspired by the pioneering scholarship of Professor Emeritus David Billington. This page describes some of my activities related to the integration of engineering and art, which include: (1) a new initiative on campus; (2) related research; and (3) public exhibitions that illustrate engineering as an art form and also teach the general public about structural engineering.

David Billington Structural Art Archive

The summer of 2021, David P. Billington’s “archive” (50+ years of collections related to his scholarship and teachings) was dismantled: A good portion of the archive (as much as I could fit) was absorbed into my office space, colleagues took some items, and some items were thrown away. I have documented where everything went in the…

Engineering and Art in Italy

Professors Garlock, Glisic, and Adriaenssens taught “Two Millenia of Structural Architecture in Italy” in the summer of 2019 through Princeton’s PIIRS Global Seminar Program.The aim of this seminar was to track and understand the structural and architectural engineering leadership of Italy in the context of social-political-economic circumstances. More can be read about this course here.…

Moderating Panels on Art + Engineering

Maria Garlock had the privilege of moderating two panels on the general subject of integrating art and engineering. Princeton University’s Council on Science and Technology’s (CST’s) hosted the first biennial Living at the Intersection Symposium, which focused on the intersection of Engineering and the Arts (April 13, 2018). Maria Garlock moderated Panel II – Taking Risks. Within…

Creativity in Cuban Thin Shell Structures Exhibition

Cubans have an international reputation for their spirited high-quality art, which is manifested in mediums such as paintings, sculptures, cinema, music, as well as the design of structures. This exhibition focuses on selected “thin shell” structures designed and built in the mid-20th century in Havana. Thin shell structures are long-span roof coverings, which in this…

The Art of Spanish Bridge Design Exhibition

This exhibition, The Art of Spanish Bridge Design, is located at the Friend Center Library, Princeton University. This exhibition features the Spanish tradition of bridge design and is a result of the Fall 2014 term of the course “CEE463: A Social and Multi-Dimensional Exploration of Structures.” The exhibition, co-curated with Professor Ignacio Payá-Zaforteza of Valenica,…

New Initiative on Campus: Engineering and the Arts

In 2013, along with Naomi Leonard (Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering), we initiated an entity on campus to better facilitate and support research and teaching between engineering and the arts. This entity, which has the strong support of the School of Engineering and Applied Science Dean, Vince Poor, has the goals of promoting and…

Research on Félix Candela

Félix Candela is widely acknowledged to be one of the great structural artists of the twentieth century. Candela was born in Spain, and was exiled in 1939 to Mexico where he created all of his major thin shell concrete constructions. This research examines Candela’s major works and his process of design. We observe that Candela…

Félix Candela: Engineer, Builder, Structural Artist Exhibition

Click here to see the extensive website on this exhibition, which debuted at the Princeton University Museum (October 08 – February 09), then traveled to the MIT Museum (April 09 – September 09), and the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh (September 2010 – January 2011). This exhibition, co-curated by Maria Garlock and David Billington,…

The Golden Gate Bridge Outdoor Learning Exhibition

Click here to see the extensive website on this exhibition, which is an NSF sponsored project where Princeton is a co-PI along with Robert Reitherman of CUREE and Denis Mulligan of Golden Gate Bridge Highway Transportation District. In the year 2012, the Golden Gate Bridge celebrated 75 years of service. At that time we inaugurated…

Fazlur Khan: Structural Artist of Urban Building Forms Exhibition

Click here to see the extensive website on this exhibition. Fazlur Rahman Khan (1929-1982) was a structural engineer of tall buildings who worked in Skidmore Owings and Merrill (SOM) in Chicago. From 1965 to 1982, Khan significantly advanced the engineering design of urban buildings. His designs were disciplined by efficiency and economy, yet he also…

The Resilient City Showcase

Presented in the Princeton-Fung Global Forum, Shanghai, January 30 – February 1 2013, this was an architecture and engineering exhibition, developed by several colleagues in Civil Engineering and Architecture. It showcased diverse projects that addressed 21st century questions of resilience in climatic, structural and urban terms. You can read more about this here.