Yasmin Sabina Khan

Engineering Architecture: The Vision of Fazlur R. Khan

My book about my father focuses on his career and his progressive ideas for large-scale building design, initiated in his own projects – projects such as Chicago’s 100-story John Hancock Center and 110-story Sears Tower, the world’s tallest building for over twenty years. At the same time, Engineering Architecture describes my father’s childhood in Bengal, his early engineering studies, and the special personal qualities that shaped his life.

The John Hancock Center

While I was working on Engineering Architecture – which took me seven years – I was asked to write the introductory text for this book of photos by Ezra Stoller. My Introduction, the only text in the book, recalls the excitement associated with this pioneering work of  structural and architectural collaboration.

Enlightening the World: The Creation of the Statue of Liberty

In Enlightening the World I take a fresh look at the fascinating story behind the creation of the statue. I explore the historical period – the idea for a monument to liberty was conceived at the end of the American Civil War – along with the lives of the people central to the statue’s creation. I also closely examine the monument itself, describing the sculptural, architectural, and structural design and construction and interpreting the meanings of the statue’s symbols of liberty.