"Fazlur Rahman Khan is a thoughtful innovator whose buildings have won great aclaim. He is undoubtly one of the world's leading structural designers.

Born in Dacca, Bangladesh, Fazlur Khan completed his undergraduate work at the Bengal Engineering College and worked as an assistant engineer. In 1952, as a Fulbright scholar, he enrolled at the University of Illinois, Urbana, where he received his doctorate in structural engineering.

He joined Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) for a few years and then returned to Pakistan in 1957. He worked Jor the Karachi Development Authority as an executive engineer but spent much of his time in administrative tasks. He returned to rejoin SOM in 1960 as an assistant engineer. Khan's first job was a 38-storey office building in Chicago. He soon earned a reputation as an innovator in the field of structural engineering oj high-rise buildings. He became known for tubular steel design in 1963; a system widely used for many of the world's tallest buildings. His advances in design are contained in the diagonally braced John Hancock Building in Chicago; Shell Plaza in Houston, the world's highest all concrete building; and the Sears Tower in Chicago, the tallest building in the world.

He has written countless technical papers and has lectured all over the globe. He has been an adjunct professor of architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology Jor many years. At the age of 52, a partner in SOM, he combines technical genius with a sensitivity for people. Some of his work, in recent years, has been in the Middle East, with the University building and the much publicised Haj Airport Terminal in Jeddah." 

Source: 
Khan, Hasan-Uddin Khan. "Fazlur R. Khan." in Mimar 4: Architecture in Development. Singapore: Concept Media Ltd., 1982. 

Associated Sites
Documents
Images & Videos
Variant Names
Fazlur Rahman Khan
Fazlur R. Khan
Related Authorities