William Frazier Baker

5/26/2018 William Frazier Baker

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William Frazier Baker, also known as Bill Baker, (born October 9, 1953, Fulton, Missouri) is an American structural engineer

known for engineering theBurj Khalifa,[1]

the world's tallest building/manmade structure.

After obtaining abachelor's degreeincivil engineeringfrom theUniversity of Missouri,Baker held a brief tenure with

ExxonMobil and later completed his master's degree at theUniversity of Illinois.He then joined the architecture and

engineering firm ofSkidmore, Owings and Merrill(SOM) in Chicago in 1981, eventually becoming a partner (1996). While widely

regarded for his work on supertall buildings, Baker's expertise also extends to a wide variety of structures like theBroadgate-

Exchange House (London, 1990), and the GMRenaissance CenterEntry Pavilion (Detroit, 2005). He is further known for his

work on long span roof structures, such as theMcCormick PlaceNorth Building Expansion (Chicago, 1986), theKorean Air

LinesOperations Center (Seoul, 1995), theKorea World Trade CenterExpansion (Seoul, 2000), and the Virginia Beach

Convention Center (Virginia Beach, 2007). Baker's career has also been marked by various collaborations with artists such as

Jamie Carpenter (Raspberry Island-Schubert Club Band Shell, 2002),Iigo Manglano-Ovalle(Gravity is a Force to be Reckoned

With, 2010),Jaume Plensa(World Voices, 2010), andJames Turrell(Roden Crater).

Baker's many skyscraper projects include theAT&T Corporate Center(Chicago, 1989),Trump International Hotel and

Tower(Chicago, 2008), Infinity Tower(Dubai, 2009),Pearl River Tower(Guangzhou, 2009),Nanjing Greenland Financial

Center(Nanjing, 2009), and the unbuilt7 South Dearborn(Chicago, 2003), although he is best known as the engineer ofBurj

Khalifa(Dubai, 2009), the world's tallest manmade structure. To support the tower's record heights, he developed the

"buttressed core"[2]structural system, consisting of a hexagonal core reinforced by three buttresses that form a Y shape. This

innovative system allows the structure to support itself both laterally and torsionally. It also eliminates the need for column

transfers, and moves loads in a smooth path from the tower's spire into its foundations.

Baker is a Fellow of both theAmerican Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)and theInstitution of Structural Engineers (IStructE).He

is a member of theNational Academy of Engineering(NAE), and frequently lectures on a variety of structural engineering topics

within the US and abroad.
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BURJ KHALIFA

In addition to its aesthetic and functional advantages, the spiralling Y shaped plan was

utilized to shape the structural core of Burj Khalifa. This design helps to reduce the wind

forces on the tower, as well as to keep the structure simple and foster constructability.

The structural system can be described as a buttressed core, and consists of high

performance concrete wall construction. Each of the wings buttress the others via a six-

sided central core, or hexagonal hub. This central core provides the torsional resistance

of the structure, similar to a closed pipe or axle. Corridor walls extend from the central

core to near the end of each wing, terminating in thickened hammer head walls. These

corridor walls and hammerhead walls behave similar to the webs and flanges of a beam

to resist the wind shears and moments. Perimeter columns and flat plate floor

construction complete the system. At mechanical floors, outrigger walls are provided to

link the perimeter columns to the interior wall system, allowing the perimeter columns

to participate in the lateral load resistance of the structure; hence, all of the vertical

concrete is utilized to support both gravity and lateral loads. The result is a tower that is

extremely stiff laterally and torsionally. It is also a very efficient structure in that the

gravity load resisting system has been utilized so as to maximize its use in resisting

lateral loads.

AT&T Corporate Center

Chicago, USA

HEIGHT: 307m/1,007 feet

FLOORS: 60 floors

COMPLETION: 1989

ARCHITECT: Skidmore, Owings and Merril (SOM)

In order to consolidate space for 3,800 employees, AT&T chose Skidmore, Owings

and Merrill to design its new headquarters on an 85,000 square feet site in Chicago's

Loop. Skidmore, Owings and Merrill's plan involved two phases: the 60-story, 1.7

million square feet AT&T headquarters, and the 35-story, 1.1 million square feet USG

headquarters. The two buildings create a continuous urban facade, with each tower

emerging from the 16-story base to form a distinct profile on the skyline.

The two buildings are perceived at the pedestrian level as a single composition. A

sequence of public rooms distinguishes the ground level, with a two-story retail

concourse joining the two phases. The lobby spaces of the ground floor are a series

of grandly scaled rooms, finished in oak and marble. The main lobby is in the

tradition of the European great hall; forty-four feet high, it is clad in Italian marble,

gold leaf, satin-finish brown and American oak wood trim.


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Infinity Tower

Cayan Tower, known as Infinity Tower prior to its inauguration, is a 306 metres

(1,004 ft), 80 storyskyscraper inDubai,United Arab Emirates by Cayan Real Estate

Investment and Development. The tower is designed bySkidmore, Owings and MerrillSOM architectural group, the same group who did the concept design for theBurj

Khalifa also in Dubai andTrump Tower inChicago.Upon its opening on 10 June 2013,

the tower has become world's tallest high rise building with a twist of 90 degrees.

Pearl River TowerPearl River Tower (Chinese:;pinyin:Zhjing chng dsh; or

Chinese:; pinyin:Zhjing dsh) is a 71-story,309.7 m (1,016 ft),clean

technologyskyscraper at the junction of Jinsui Road/Zhujiang Avenue

West,Tianhe District,Guangzhou,China. The tower's architecture and engineering

were performed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill withAdrian D. Smithand Gordon

Gill (now at their own firm,AS+GG)as architects. Ground broke on the tower on the

8th of September 2006 and construction was completed in March 2011. It is

intended for office use and is partially occupied by the China National Tobacco

Corporation.
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William Frazier Baker