50 design questions answered: Arup Design Book

Arup is the design, architectural and engineering genius behind many of the world’s leading buildings and urban areas. From the Sydney Opera House in Australia to the sprawling regeneration that came out of its HS1 rail engineering project in the UK, the firm s skilled team have created some of the world’s most iconic developments. At its heart the firm, founded by Ove Arup in 1946, is about shaping a better world. This book provides a snapshot of just some of the thousands of projects that are being worked on and demonstrates how they impact people s lives. Through intriguing questions such as ‘What can a dragonfly teach us about design?’ and more playful questions such as ‘How big does a dog playground need to be?’ it gives answers that are unexpected and surprising. It also shows the challenges – from the technical, to the sustainable, through to the ones that seem impossible at the outset – faced by those who are creating the world we live in today. It reveals the diversity of projects that are being worked on; from some of the most stunning structures in the world such as the CCTV Headquarters in Beijing, to the UCH Macmillan cancer hospital in the UK, a building that truly improves the lives of patients needing treatment, and also includes details of many other fascinating research projects. This is a firm that takes its place in society seriously, and it has the third-party endorsements to prove it. The book includes a number of high profile commentators such as London Mayor Boris Johnson and leading international architect Shigeru Ban giving their perspectives on the role of design in the world today.