Christopher Charles Benninger David Chipperfield

Architecture:

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Partner in charge of Structural and Civil Engineering for the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP— William Baker has developed the structural system for the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa, Dubai. Developer of the ‘buttressed core’ structural system, Baker has spearheaded structural design of Chicago’s AT&T Corporate Centre and the Trump International Hotel and Tower. In a tête-à-tête with Sarita Vijayan, Editor & Brand Director, Indian Architect & Builder Magazine, the 2009 recipient and the first American to win the Fritz Leonhardt Prize, Baker reveals his trials and successes in structuring the Burj Khailfa.

Photograph: cour tesy SOM/David Johnson

Structural Dynamics

let’s partner

SV. After working with SOM for a prolific span of two decades since 1981, how do you keep the creative juices flowing? What drives you to make new discoveries and innovate in the realm of architecture and structural engineering?WB. Skidmore, Owings & Merill is an architectural and engineering firm. We have architectural engineers, structural engineers, mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, plumbing engineers, interior designers, planners etc., so its quite a lot of fun to work together. When a new project comes into the office we get to see it at the very beginning, the same time the architect sees the problems; and so we’re able to innovate and create. Because we’ve worked together so many times we have a lot of ideas that are in place. Sometimes that idea is not right for a project but it’s still a good idea and you’re able to use it on perhaps another project. We have a lot of ideas that are in place, waiting for the right opportunity.

SV. In a large scale project like the Burj Khalifa, how did you streamline the work processes of the various disciplines?WB. The design itself was done in a span of few years; it started in 2001 and it kept on changing. We started construction in 2004 but were still making some active changes as late as 2007. We didn’t have a huge team but a very focused one. We broke our team into two groups, one who was doing the low rise and one who was doing the tower; so we had a very tight team working on the project. We had approximately 75 different consultants involved in food services to lighting and elevator to wind tunnel. At some point or the other during the process they were involved with the in-house people as well.

SV. You literally raised the bar for tall structures with the Burj Khalifa. Could you elaborate the critical challenges you faced and the breakthroughs that enabled the successful completion of the project? With this feather in your cap, what lies ahead?WB. Well the thing that was different about this project was the design process; it was more of an experimental design process. At one point you have an idea and you know that it’ll work and you go ahead with it and execute it. On this one we had some ideas that we refined over time and we did a lot of testing in the wind tunnel; because the wind is the controlling primary in a tall building, we would test and re-shape the building, again and again. It was an experimental process. We didn’t know how high we could go because we had never done this before; no one had done this before. We reached a point, where this was as far as we could reasonably go, given the schedule and where the construction was. This was a different design process than most of the projects, just the reason why we have achieved it. Also the client kept on wanting us to go higher. In the very beginning it was a small building, but then the client added more area on my brief, which enabled us to go higher. Now we can easily build a 1km tower, probably faster than the Burj with the same amount of structural material. We’ve learned a lot in the process, the project went very smooth but there are some things we know now that we didn’t know when we started.

SV. What were the technological and material innovations borne out of working on the Burj Khalifa?WB. It was built like a vertical factory using a very sophisticated form work system provided by Doko, from Austria. They were ready to build at great heights; the concrete was pumped, except for the very top, from the ground up using very high strength piping and incredibly strong pumps to do so. These were things that had never been done before at a construction site. The contractor, too, was able to experiment, to see what construction methodology they could use at such great heights.

SV. Wh at e l e m e nt s d o yo u fe e l wo u l d a d d to yo u r p hy s i o l o g i c a l, m e te o ro l o g i c a l a rc h i te c t u ra l vo c a b u l a r y i n t h e f u t u re ? How d o yo u i m a g i n e yo u r a rc h i te c t u ra l l a n g u a g e w i l l d e ve l o p ove r t h e n ex t 5 ye a r s ?BI. Banally, I would say that architecture and nature will fuse more and more. Cities and buildings will start to operate like ecosystems that channel the flow of resources: energy, heat, air, water etc. as well as the flow of people, bicycles and cars. Not a nostalgic idea of sustainability that sends us back to some romantic notion of the golden days in the past, but a progressive notion of sustainability that imagines new, hybrid, manmade ecologies that are both urban and natural at the same time. Our Mountain House and the up coming Battery projects are small steps in that direction.

S V. To q u o te m a s te r a rc h i te c t B. V. D o s h i , ”Ar t a n d a rc h i te c t u re a re t h e f i r s t to b e a f fe c te d d u r i n g a f i n a n c i a l c r i s i s a n d t h e l a s t to re cove r.” Wh at d o yo u t h i n k a re t h e re p e rc u s s i o n s o f t h e c u r re nt wo r l d e co n o m i c d ow nt u r n o n a rc h i te c t u ra l p ra c t i ce s ?W B. We l l , yo u m ay s ay i n t h e b o o m t h at we h a d b e f o re t h e b u r s t , a l l a rc h i te c t s h ave, w h at I m i g ht ca l l , t h e i r rat i o n a l ex u b e ra n ce. Th e re we re a l o t o f f a n c y f o rm s t h at we re m a d e j u s t f o r t h e s a ke o f m a k i n g f a n c y f o rm s. I t d i d n’t n e ce s s a r i ly a d d to t h e u s e o f t h e b u i l d i n g ; t h e y we re j u s t f o rm s f o r f o rm s s a ke. Th at w i l l b e te m p e re d n ow. We s aw t h i s b e f o re , i n t h e e a r l i e r re ce s s i o n s, at o n e t i m e t h e re i s a l o t o f ru n u p w h e re e ve r y o n e i s t r y i n g to o u t - d o e a c h o t h e r, t h e n t h e re ce s s i o n co m e s a n d a rc h i te c t u re i s a l i t t l e m o re rat i o n a l , a l i t t l e m o re ca l m . Th e b e s t p a r t i s t h at we a re g o i n g to s e e, f o r a w h i l e n ow, p e o p l e h av i n g t h e c h a n ce to s to p d e s i gn i n g a n d s t a r t t h i n k i n g s o m e m o re. An d w h e n we s t a r t u p a g a i n t h i n g s i t w i l l b e m o re rat i o n a l - b a s e d a n d l e s s ca p r i c i o u s.

SV. Did the recession affec t the design and development of the Burj Khal i fa?WB. Not real ly, the Bur j was wel l a long. Of course, pr ior to the economic downtown ever ybody was af fec ted, but we were probably in a much better shape than many other developments. We were a l ready presold, especia l ly a l l o f res ident ia l. That was good. I th ink we were in better shape than a lmost anybody in th is recess ion.

SV.Where do you see India within the world infrastructure scene? Are you looking to broaden your work scope in this countr y? WB. India is in a ver y wor ththful place right now. It is at a point where its going to grow. It ’ l l soon be the most populous countr y in the world and with a highly educated workforce. Many people speak English, which is the language of business of the world; so there’s going to be a huge growth in India. One of the wonder ful things here is the option to learn from the successes and the things that weren’t so successful. India has a great oppor tunity to learn and do it better. I t ’s also got a lot of challenges; i t ’s a ver y complex society and countr y. Its solution wil l be unique; it won’t be l ike elsewhere. We are currently involved with a new terminal in Mumbai, we are also doing some hotels in Mumbai, Delhi and in Agra, plus master plans in Delhi and other par ts of India. We have a ver y strong connection with India. My boss for many years, who was the par tner before I was, his name was Srinivasa ‘Hal’ Iyengar, he was from Mysore. Many people come to the US for graduate studies and just stay back. Half of our staff, i .e. 40 – 50 per cent people are born overseas and we benefit from it.