Fazlur Rahman Khan

Fazlur Rahman Khan was a Bangladeshi-American structural engineer and architect who pioneered tubular systems that made very tall buildings more efficient and economical.

Tube structure: A tall building system in which closely spaced exterior columns and deep perimeter beams act together as a hollow vertical tube. Khan developed this system to resist wind efficiently with a building’s outer frame.
Willis Tower: A Chicago skyscraper completed in 1973, formerly known as the Sears Tower. Khan designed its bundled-tube structure, which helped make it the world’s tallest building at completion.
Dhaka: The capital of Bangladesh and a major city in the Bengal region. Khan was born in Dhaka in 1929 and received his early education there.
Bruce Graham: An American architect and partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, known for major Chicago skyscrapers. Graham collaborated with Khan on the John Hancock Center and Sears Tower.
Framed tube: A tube structure formed by closely spaced exterior columns connected by deep spandrel beams. This early tubular system underpinned Khan’s structural approach to high-rise buildings.
John Hancock Center: A Chicago skyscraper completed in 1969, notable for its large exterior X-bracing. Its trussed-tube frame demonstrates Khan’s use of visible diagonal bracing to resist lateral forces.
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign: A public research university in Urbana and Champaign, Illinois. Khan earned advanced engineering degrees there before beginning his American career.
Fazlur Rahman Khan Medal: An award established by the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat to honor advances in tall-building design. The medal recognizes work in the field Khan helped reshape.
Bundled tube: A system of connected structural tubes that act together, allowing a tower to vary in shape and height. Khan used bundled tubes to make the Sears Tower’s stepped form structurally efficient.
One Shell Plaza: A Houston office tower completed in 1971 with a tubular structural system. The tower shows Khan’s tubular approach applied beyond Chicago’s landmark buildings.

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