nomination by the Government of Australia - Sydney Opera House
nomination by the Government of Australia - Sydney Opera House
nomination by the Government of Australia - Sydney Opera House
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106<br />
Part 10. Appendices<br />
The fi rm Arup founded continued to fl ourish in <strong>the</strong><br />
1970s and 1980s. Offi ces were opened in <strong>Australia</strong><br />
—fi rst in <strong>Sydney</strong> to work on <strong>the</strong> <strong>Sydney</strong> <strong>Opera</strong> <strong>House</strong><br />
and subsequently in o<strong>the</strong>r cities—also in Singapore,<br />
Malaysia, <strong>the</strong> United States, France and latterly in many<br />
o<strong>the</strong>r countries. Ove Arup & Partners’ development<br />
was founded on sound technical and social principles.<br />
The quest for technical excellence was underpinned<br />
<strong>by</strong> sophisticated information systems and a leading<br />
edge research and development group. It was<br />
fur<strong>the</strong>r enhanced <strong>by</strong> <strong>the</strong> establishment <strong>of</strong> specialist<br />
services such as information technology; acoustics;<br />
economics; urban planning; and facade, fi re and<br />
seismic engineering. Ove Arup wanted always to marry<br />
<strong>the</strong> highest ideals <strong>of</strong> design and construction. His<br />
background in both <strong>the</strong> humanities and engineering<br />
contributed to his ability to articulate this ideal which<br />
he described as ‘Total Architecture’. In his own<br />
words: ‘Good design must fi rst <strong>of</strong> all satisfy a social<br />
function, it must have artistic wholeness and <strong>the</strong> result<br />
must harmonise with its surroundings.’ Arup’s social<br />
principles for his fi rm have become known as his<br />
‘Key Speech’ and have continued to operate as <strong>the</strong><br />
guidelines for <strong>the</strong> fi rm.<br />
Ove Arup was made a Commander <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> British<br />
Empire in 1953 and a Knight Bachelor in 1971. He was<br />
elected as a member <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> British Royal Academy in<br />
1986 and also received several honorary doctorates.<br />
Many <strong>of</strong> his partners and colleagues have also been<br />
honoured and received praise, including Peter Rice<br />
who played a leading role in <strong>the</strong> <strong>Sydney</strong> <strong>Opera</strong> <strong>House</strong><br />
project. Peter Rice was awarded <strong>the</strong> Royal Institute <strong>of</strong><br />
British Architects’ Gold Medal for Architecture in 1992.<br />
Ove Arup died in London in 1988, aged 92.<br />
Awards<br />
Awards presented to Ove Arup include:<br />
•<br />
•<br />
•<br />
Chevalier First Class (1965) and Commander First<br />
Class (1975) <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Order <strong>of</strong> Danneborg (Denmark)<br />
Royal Institute <strong>of</strong> British Architects Gold Medal<br />
(United Kingdom 1966)<br />
Institution <strong>of</strong> Structural Engineers Gold Medal<br />
(United Kingdom 1973).<br />
Select bibliography<br />
Arup, O 1970, The key speech, Arup Group web page,<br />
viewed October 2005, .<br />
Dunster, D (ed.) 1996, Arups on engineering, Ernst &<br />
Sohn, Berlin.<br />
Holgate, A 1986, The art in structural design,<br />
Clarendon Press, Oxford.<br />
Ove Arup & Partners 1973, The Arup Journal, Vol.<br />
8, No. 3, special issue on <strong>the</strong> <strong>Sydney</strong> <strong>Opera</strong> <strong>House</strong>,<br />
October 1973.<br />
Ove Arup & Partners 1986, Ove Arup and Partners<br />
1946–1986, Academy, London.<br />
Picon, A 1997, L’Art de l’ingenier, constructeur,<br />
entrepreneur, inventeur, Editions du Centre<br />
Pompidou, Paris.<br />
Sommer, D, Stöcher, H & Weisser, L 1994, Ove Arup<br />
and Partners: engineering <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> built environment,<br />
Birkhauser, Basel.