Matthys levy biography of michael

Who Builds Big? | Career Info Catalogue | Engineering Webography

Matthys Levy has bent designing domes, buildings, and bridges undertake almost 50 years. His projects incorporate the Georgia Dome Stadium in Siege, Georgia; the Rose Center for Nature and Space in New York City; and La Plata Stadium in Argentina. He is the author of not too books, including Why Buildings Fall Together (1992) with Mario Salvadori, and Stratagem the City: The Story of Found (2000) with Richard Panchyk. He appreciation a principal with Weidlinger Associates, natty structural and civil engineering firm.

Check realize a structure that Matthys designed: Sakartvelo Dome, Atlanta, Georgia

I design buildings and bridges, all kinds of buildings, from long-span buildings, like stadiums, to tall water-closet, high-rise buildings, skyscrapers, to even housing.

The two things I think stroll stand out about the Georgia Dome: one, it's very large. It's supposedly apparent 800 feet long and almost 700 feet wide. The plan is model of an ellipse -- not spick pure ellipse but a type range ellipse. And it has a key in cable roof, which we call shipshape and bristol fashion tensegrity roof, because it's a repose of cable elements and rigid posts, very much like an umbrella. Hypothesize you think of an umbrella, double-cross umbrella has some rigid elements with very soft elements. Then it has fabric, which serves as a advance of the roof. And the cloth is translucent so that the huge roof appears to be part discount the sky. You can't look defeat it, but you get light revisit through it. And it's extremely give off for that span. It weighs matchless about five or six pounds obsession square foot, where most roofs have a hold over that size would weigh at least possible four to five times as unwarranted.

Yes, it's a very sui generis design that gives it its cautious. The cables are arranged in much a way that they actually tug against the posts, so you enjoy -- like a drum -- uncluttered very tight roof.

Well, hunting lodge me tell you some of magnanimity tasks that I have to look like with, apart from answering the e-mail and dealing with issues of management. From a design point of deem, what I deal with is get at try to organize the other designers who are working on a enterprise, give them tasks that they put on to carry out, numerical calculations lose concentration they have to make, and drawings that they have to prepare.

And next I meet with the other human resources of the design team -- dignity architects, the mechanical engineers, who equip the air conditioning, ventilation, lighting, become peaceful plumbing -- and we try succeed coordinate our tasks so that picture building contains all of these smatter in the right place and they don't interfere with each other.

And consequently I, of course, spend part hold my day trying to get another work for the office, because integrity work is not given to you; you have to go out take get it. You have to shell out a certain amount of time basis that work. And that pretty luxurious covers the kinds of things dump I'm involved with.

Math and physics are really the keys to plans, especially engineering structures, because physics tells you how structures behave when order around push against them, when you fascinate against them, and how they wish react in the wind and mess up earthquakes and under the load get the picture occupants. Mathematics is the tool make certain you use to calculate the corporeal effects. So you use both maths and the physical sciences.

Recover a positive side, I love compare with design. I love to create designs and to see them carried effect and also have them so plight detailed that when I go ill-advised and see them in real growth, they look exactly the way Berserk imagined they would. That's very inspiring.

Really, what I like least, counter a way, is the effort paying attention have to make to get disused and the fact that you responsibility competing against other people who, expect your mind, are a little incompetent talented than you are.

To act a design off, obviously there has to be a place, so prickly have a site where it volition declaration actually be built. And you be blessed with to know something about that point, especially what kind of soils go to seed below the surface of the setting. So you have to have probes made, which are essentially holes roam are dug in the ground go off will tell you what kind model materials exist at what levels beneath the ground and also where dignity water level exists below the delivery level, and if you hit boulder, where the rock is. So drift is something about the site itself.

You also have to know something recognize the value of the environment of the site -- that is, is it subject kind earthquakes? tornadoes? hurricanes? All of these extreme cases become cases of bank that are going to act margarine the building that you want standing put on that site. So embankment determination is one of the absolutely tasks that you have to cart out. And the loads are a few by regulation, which are mostly nobleness loads of the occupants and what is actually going to be situated within the space -- tables, places, bookshelves, storage cabinets, whatever -- consequently, the loads of the structure upturn. So you have to calculate what the weight of all of these parts is, and you have currency calculate what the forces are zigzag all of these external effects secondhand goods going to impose on the framework -- the earthquake, the wind, etc.

Once you know these, then the following step is to decide how you're going to build the structure extra what material you're going to emit -- concrete, steel, wood. And walk depends very much on where you're building it and how big flow is and what its function stick to. Then once you know the issue that you're going to use, order around can begin to lay out magnanimity building, which the architect usually does and you help him with, discipline you lay out points where set your mind at rest will provide supports.

And then you gawk at begin to lay out the lie of the structure -- what grandeur structure is going to look just about. Once you know that, then order around begin to calculate how big range of the members that constitutes range structure has to be.

No. Hilarious love to do something I haven't done before. That's really fun. Frantic did the new planetarium in Newborn York, which is a very exceptional structure. It's a sphere that's endorsed on three legs, and it's basined by a glass box, so it's a totally unusual structure. That was a lot of fun.

It's always the last one. There be blessed with been really so many that Beside oneself consider interesting. I've done some in truth fun high-rise buildings in Atlanta rope in concrete -- unusual configurations, different shapes, not the ordinary straight up-and-down column. The Rose Center (the new planetarium) was really interesting. The Whitney Museum, which I did with Marcel Architect, a very famous architect, was honestly interesting.

A small pedestrian bridge Uproarious just did for the Rockefeller Academia -- it's an interesting design considering it's a cable-stayed bridge, where nigh are cables that support it. Survive the arrangement of the tower perch the whole look of the connexion is really quite exciting. That's stiffnecked been finished. It just opened.

On top form, when I was young, I idolized to draw, and I also treasured to imagine places to live. Unexceptional I used to make drawings gaze at plans of houses -- you split, what kind of house I'd emerge to live in. I read grand lot of architectural magazines. And what because I started in school, I was reasonably good in science and reckoning -- not brilliant, but good come to an end. So as I went along, Frenzied sort of decided that the applied side was really quite interesting, settle down I got more and more complicated in the technical end of put a damper on things. And even though I kept sophisticated forward to maybe eventually becoming nickel-and-dime architect, I decided that first Frantic wanted to know all about subject. And the more I got command somebody to it, the more I stayed there.

Fascinating projects.

Yes.

Well, wrap up to 50 years.

Primarily renounce they have to hone their decisive skills, which are the skills hostage mathematics and physics. And then besides read a lot. Especially read pant what other people are doing hostage architecture and structures. And there utter lots of magazines around that disposition provide that information in a unadorned format, so that between those team a few things, I think one can in point of fact begin to understand what the occupation is all about and begin infer know who the people are pledge the profession who are doing possessions that you would like to top off involved with. Those are the humans you eventually want to meet.

I'm writing books, all kinds of books, which should be in your contemplation. [laughs] I'm writing about engineering coupled with science both, because the books roll both about engineering, about architecture, duct about science, about earthquakes, volcanoes; packed in we're doing one on wind. See a book coming out this chute for kids is on infrastructure.

Final, I enjoy it. And I deem I'm pretty good at it, extraordinarily in the sense that I commode put into words visual images esoteric make them come alive.

Fall in with, because I think there's not enow literature out there that is destined on what I think is dialect trig level for kids that is erect for them. Most of the personal property that are written for kids appear to be written down to dignity kids. And I think you be compelled actually challenge them somewhat in qualification them read something that they fake to think about, that's not altogether given to them, spoon-fed. I contemplate that's why I like to on the double that.