Who's Fazlur Rahman Khan? Engineer Of Chicago's Iconic Skyscrapers Gets Google 'Doodle'

Since posting semi-regular "doodles" on its home page, Google has become a "Schoolhouse Rock" for millennials, educating that generation — and older generations, too — about history, science and other topics in an entertaining fashion.

The (almost) daily doodles also regularly highlight individuals whose achievements are well-known even if their names aren't. Such as Fazlur Rahman Khan, the subject of Monday's Google Doodle.

Chicagoans might not be familiar with the late Khan, who would've turned 88 on Monday, April 3, but his contributions to the city are towering. Literally. He's the structural engineer who designed Chicago's two signature skyscrapers that have defined the skyline for decades: the John Hancock Center (completed in 1969) and the Willis Tower, the building originally known as the Sears Tower and formerly known as the tallest building in the world (completed in 1973).

Khan, however, wasn't simply a "hired gun" who road in to town, helped establish Chicago's visually legacy, then road on out to the next town without even a "Much obliged." Born in 1929 in what is now Bangladesh, the late engineer — he died of a heart attack at 52 while on a trip to Saudia Arabia in 1982 — moved to and began working in Chicago in 1955 at the architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill after earning degrees at the University of Illinois. He became a U.S. citizen in 1967.

Having a connection to Chicago as a longtime resident and creating two landmarks that not only dominate but are essential to the city's iconic look reflect Khan's overall approach to engineering.

"My brother was not only a creative structural engineer, he was also a philosopher, visionary, educator and humanist," Zillur Khan, Fazlur Rahman Khan's younger brother, told Structure magazine in 2011. "As my guide, he always told me, 'Think logically and find the relationships which exist in every system, because it will help you understand nature itself, making living more meaningful and exciting'."

Other structures that Khan had a hand in designing while at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill include:

• Plaza on DeWitt (formerly the DeWitt-Chestnut Apartment Building), 260 E. Chestnut St., in Chicago's Streetville neighborhood. Completed 1966.
• Onterie Center, 441 E. Erie St., Chicago, a 60-story high rise that combined its entrance streets — Erie and Ontario — for its own name. Its diagonal brace structure is similar to the Hancock building and is dedicated to Khan. Completed 1986.
• U.S. Air Force Academy campus in Colorado Springs, Colorado, which includes the spectacular Cadet Chapel (Khan was not the lead designer but contributed to the project).

While the buildings Khan's designed are what might be what he's best known for, it's his engineering innovations that make him such an important figure worth displaying his Google Doodle for at least 24 hours.

Khan tube structure system — or "tube concept" — completely redefined skyscraper construction, and the advancements and techniques he developed are still used today. In fact, his tube structures were used in the World Trade Center and Chicago's Aon Center, and its influences are even seen in Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the current holder of the world's tallest building title.

Fazlur Rahman Khan (photo via Wikimedia Commons | Fair Use)

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