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Werner Sobek Architect, Germany

Contemporary German Architect & Structural Engineer: Information + News

post updated 17 July 2024

Professor Werner Sobek is named IStructE’s 2024 Gold Medallist

The prestigious prize is in recognition of Professor Sobek’s innovative work on adaptive structures and significant research into the contribution of structural engineering to carbon zero.

Professor Werner Sobek:
Professor Werner Sobek
photo © Rene Mueller

The Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) proudly announces that Professor Werner Sobek, an internationally renowned architect, consulting engineer and academic, is its 2024 Gold Medallist.

First established in 1922, this prestigious accolade is for individuals who have made unique and outstanding contributions to the advancement of structural engineering.

Professor Sobek will receive the Gold Medal at a special award ceremony on 23 September 2024 at IStructE’s head office in London. At this event, he will deliver his Gold Medal Address titled “Building in a New World.”

Professor Subek’s impressive career began at the University of Stuttgart where he studied Architecture and Civil Engineering from 1974 – 1981. He received his Doctorate from the same University in 1987, where he also founded the Institute for Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design (ILEK). He established his own planning office in 1992, now known as Werner Sobek AG, which currently employs some 450 people worldwide.

Speaking about the Gold Medal, Professor Sobek says: “I am honoured and delighted to receive this recognition from The Institution of Structural Engineers. My Gold Medal address will explain the need to radically rethink the planning and design of our built environment to address the immense challenges posed by climate change, resource scarcity, and demographic shifts.”

Professor Sobek adds: “Structural engineers and architects need to address a fundamental question: how can we design our buildings and structures to build with less material for more people and without harmful emissions? My address will share a new view of lightweight construction and its part to play in all this – and the importance of good engineering for the careful use of our resources.”

Yasmin Becker, Chief Executive of IStructE, says: “I am thrilled that Professor Sobek is our 2024 Gold Medallist. This award honours an expert who is not only at the pinnacle of their profession, with an illustrious career, but also someone who focuses on future challenges to deliver positive change. Professor Sobek’s significant contribution makes him a worthy winner.”

Werner Sobek has written a trilogy “non nobis: about building in the future”, which is an overview of Werner’s thoughts and perspectives on the future of the building sector. His firm, Werner Sobek AG has a special emphasis on the design and planning of structures, facades, and technical building equipment, as well as on consulting in building physics.

Professor Sobek concludes: “I aim to create a built environment that is both breathtakingly beautiful and one that meets the interests of future generations. I want to build emission-free for more people and with less material.”

Professor Sobek’s biography

  • Born in 1953, Aalen in Germany.
  • Studied Architecture and Civil Engineering at the University of Stuttgart from 1974 – 1981, and a Doctorate from the same institution in 1987.
  • Held a professorship at the University of Hannover from 1992 – 1995, becoming the successor to Frei Otto in 1995 and then additionally to Jörg Schlaich in the year 2000.
  • Found the ILEK Institute for Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design at the University of Stuttgart.
  • Gained emeritus status in 2021.
  • Held the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s former professorship at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago from 2008 – 2014.
  • Served as a visiting professor in Graz, Singapore, Hamburg and at Harvard.
  • Established his own planning office in 1992, now called Werner Sobek AG with around 450 employees across the globe.
  • Co-founded several non-profit foundations and associations, including the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB), for which he served as both a founder member and president.
  • In addition to receiving numerous honours and awards in Germany and abroad – including the German Federal Cross of Merit (Bundesverdienstkreuz am Bande) – Werner Sobek was also the only architect and engineer to be named among the 500 most influential intellectuals in the German-speaking world by Cicero magazine in 2022.

About IStructE’s Gold Medal Award

This was first presented in 1922 to Professor Henry Adams. Other past recipients include Felix Candela (1960), Ove Arup (1973), Oleg Kerensky (1977), Sir Edmund Happold (1991), Dame Jo da Silva (2017), and Albert Taylor Williamson (2023).

Institution of Structural Engineers 2020 Gold Medal

About the Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE)

https://www.istructe.org/

The Institution of Structural Engineers dates to 1908 and is now the world’s largest membership organisation dedicated to the art and science of structural engineering.

It has over 29,000 members working in 138 countries around the world. Professional membership is one of the leading global benchmarks of competence and technical excellence. Members undergo rigorous technical assessment and commit to continual learning and development.

The Institution drives higher standards and shares knowledge because its members’ work is vital to public safety and meeting the challenges of the future. The Institution provides a voice for its members, promoting their contribution to society as innovative, creative problem solvers and the guardians of public safety.

Previously on e-architect:

Structural Awards

Structural Awards 2019
Hangzhou Olympic Tennis Centre building China
photograph courtesy of The Structural Awards
Structural Awards 2019

Structural Awards 2017
The Structural Awards 2017 Shortlist
photo © Jasper Carlberg
Structural Awards 2017

The Institution of Structural Engineers’ 2017 Gold Medal
Jo da Silva Arup Director
photo courtesy of Institution of Structural Engineers
Institution of Structural Engineers 2017 Gold Medal

How Architects Can Enforce Structural Safety through Design

Structural Engineers

Arup

Max Fordham Structural Engineers

Pier Luigi Nervi

www.structuralawards.org

Architectural Awards

Stirling Prize

European Architecture Competition

European Prize Architecture

American Architecture Awards

Pritzker Prize Architects

Previously on e-architect:

Werner Sobek – Key Projects

Featured Buildings by Werner Sobek:

26 Oct 2021
i-Mesh Canopy, Dubai, UAE
Design: Werner Sobek
i-Mesh Expo 2020 Dubai canopies
photo : i-Mesh
i-Mesh Expo 2020 Dubai Canopy
These canopies are made with an innovative textile fiber: 2.7 kilometers of retractable textile surfaces provide 52,500 square meters of lightness and technology, acting as a screen between land and sky. i-Mesh, a Made in Italy technical fabric, allows the realization of a high-performance cover for Expo’s promenade.

It can be called soft architecture: an ethereal, translucent “cloud” hanging between land and sky that protects from the heat during the day and transforms into a projection screen at night.

16 Sep 2017
Station Z memorial, Sachsenhausen, Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany
Date built: 2003-05
Design: with HG Merz

More architectural projects online soon

Location: Stuttgart, Germany, western Europe

Stuttgart Architect Practice Information

Head office based in Stuttgart, southwest Germany

Werner Sobek design Studios based in Cairo, Dubai, Frankfurt, Khartoum, Moscow and New York

Werner Sobek Architect Engineer Germany

This is a global company with offices on several continents.

WS stands throughout the world for engineering, design, and sustainability. The firm has offices in Stuttgart, Dubai, Frankfurt, Istanbul, London, Moscow and New York. The work of the company is defined by premium design on the basis of high-class engineering combined with sophisticated green technologies.

Founded in 1992, this architectural studio has now more than 280 employees. They work on all types of buildings and materials. Special emphasis lies on lightweight structural design, transparent facade systems, and sustainable building concepts. The overall objective is to reach the highest quality possible – this is also reflected in the company’s quality management system which has been certified according to ISO 9001.

The company was founded in 1992 by Prof. Werner Sobek. He is an architect, consulting engineer, proof engineer for all fields of structural engineering, and holds various licenses, e.g. a Structural Engineering License for Illinois. As a successor to architect Frei Otto and structural engineer Jörg Schlaich, Werner heads the Institute for Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design (ILEK) at the University of Stuttgart.

From 2008 until 2014 he was also Mies van der Rohe Professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. In addition, he is founder and president of various non-profit organizations such as aed and SIS.
source: http://www.wernersobek.de

Website: www.wernersobek.com

German Architectural Designs

German Architecture Designs

Stuttgart Architecture Designs

Contemporary Architecture in Germany – architectural selection below:

Cycle And Pedestrian Bridge Heidelberg
Design: schlaich bergermann partner, LAVA, and Latz + Partner
Bridge over Neckar River in Heidelberg
image © schlaich bergermann partner/LAVA/Latz+Partner
Bridge over Neckar River in Heidelberg
schlaich bergermann partner, LAVA, and Latz + Partner, have won first prize in an international competition for the design of a new pedestrian and cycle bridge over the Neckar River in Heidelberg.

Carmen Würth Forum, Künzelsau, Baden-Württemberg, south central Germany
Carmen Wurth Forum Kunzelsau
photography © Simon Menges
Carmen Würth Forum in Künzelsau
A second construction phase completes the Carmen Würth Forum for the Adolf Würth GmbH & Co. KG situated in the town of Künzelsau in southern Germany. The diverse range of functions further establishes the complex’s conceptual idea of a forum and allows the building to be open continuously, in particular due to its use as a museum.

German Architects

Stuttgart Architects

Frankfurt Building

Stuttgart Buildings

German Architecture

Architecture Studios

Buildings / photos for the Werner Sobek Engineering & Design Architecture page welcome