Framed-tube structure for skyscrapers (Khan)
Estructura de tubo para rascacielos (Khan)
- Date
- 1963 · confidence high
- Place
- Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Credited to
- Fazlur Rahman Khan (SOM)
- Field
- Tools
What it is
Khan concentrated wind resistance in a tube of closely spaced columns and spandrel beams that works as a hollow cantilever, leaving the interior free. It was first applied at DeWitt-Chestnut, then at the Hancock Center (1969) and Sears Tower (1973).
What it led to
- skyscrapers over 400 m with less steel per square metre
- bundled and braced tubes as in the Burj Khalifa
- more economical tall buildings