A leading authority on the design of prestressed concrete structures, August E. Komendant played an instrumental role in the creation of a number of the most significant architectural designs of the second half of the twentieth century. His collaborations with architects, Louis I. Kahn and Moshe Safdie, among others, redefined the use of precast concrete.
Born in Estonia in 1906, Komendant studied structural engineering at the Technische Hochschule in Dresden, Germany returning in 1936 to Talinn, Estonia and running his own consuting practice. Komendant and his family were displaced due to World War II, eventually immigrating to New York City in 1950. In 1956, Komendant met Louis Kahn when he asked him to consult on a project for a competition in Chicago. The first built project the two worked on together was Richards Medical Laboratories at the University of Pennsylvania (1957-1961). This lead to further work with Louis Kahn, Mitchell/Giurgola, GBQC, and teaching courses within the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Fine Arts (now the Weitzman School of Design).
Miracles in Concrete. Structural Engineer August Komendant is the first comprehensive look at the innovative engineer, fittingly in his home country of Estonia. The Architectural Archives loaned over 80 objects, which included original drawings, architectural models, original photography and correspondence from the Kahn, Komendant, and Mitchell/Giurgula collections.
To learn more about August Komendant and his important contributions to post-war architecture, see William Whitaker's presentation at the opening reception for the exhibition below.
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