Fazlur Rahman Khan is best known today for designing Chicago’s Sears Tower, known today as the Willis Tower.
At 442 metres (1,450 feet) tall, and 108 storeys, Chicago’s Sears Tower was the world's tallest building for 24 years.
It remained the tallest structure in the United States until One World Trade Center in 2014, although it was renamed the Willis Tower in 2009.
Khan, often dubbed the “Einstein of structural engineering,” was born in Dhaka in what is now Bangladesh on April 3, 1929. He died on March 27, 2024 at age 52 after suffering a heart attack in Saudi Arabia.
Of interest, Structural engineer Dr. Fazlur Rahman Khan is the subject for today’s Google Doodle. April 3, 2024 would be his 88th birthday.
“A humanitarian in his personal as well as professional life, he was inspired by the belief that his work had a positive impact and he encouraged other engineers not to lose track of the purpose of their profession,” Yasmin Sabina Khan, Khan’s daughter and the author of Engineering Architecture: The Vision of Fazlur R. Khan, told Google. “When he was named Construction’s Man of the Year, he reflected, ‘The technical man must not be lost in his own technology. He must be able to appreciate life, and life is art, drama, music and, most importantly, people.'”
Here's 5 more facts about Dr. Fazlur Rahman Khan shared via Heavy.com.