Welcome to Ask a Professor, our series that offers an insider’s view of life in academia. This month we interviewed Tyler S. Sprague, Associate Professor and Graduate Program Coordinator in the Department of Architecture at the University of Washington. With training in both architecture and structural engineering, Sprague investigates what happens at the intersection of those two disciplines in late twentieth- and early twenty-first-century architecture. He’s written on the technology and effect of illumination on the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, the rise of reinforced-concrete skyscrapers in the Pacific Northwest, the use of hyperbolic paraboloids in post-World War II architecture, and the engineering of the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair, among other topics. His book, Sculpture on a Grand Scale: Jack Christiansen’s Thin Shell Modernism (University of Washington Press, 2019), analyzes the significant contributions to the technology and design of the built environment by Jack Christiansen, a notable yet understudied structural engineer based in the Pacific Northwest.

Tyler Sprague likes his history messy—or at least multi-faceted. An architectural historian with a professional background in structural engineering, Sprague draws on expertise in both fields to analyze buildings and sites, disentangling threads of evidence to reveal the multiple motivations and methods that shape the built environment. In doing so, he’s attentive to geographical specificities, evolving technologies, commercial and economic concerns, and design trends, weighing the effect of each on post-war American architecture. He brings his multi-disciplinary approach to the classroom as well, teaching studios in both architectural history and structural design. He leads the annual Barry Onouye Endowed Studio, in which students explore the design potential of different structures and materials including timber, tensioned nets, and fabric-formed concrete.

What’s something most people don’t know about your field?

As a historian of the built environment, my work cuts across the disciplines of architectural history and structural engineering. I think it’s exciting to explore historical moments through a situated understanding of technology, aesthetics, culture—and not be limited by the bounds of a single discipline. I also teach contemporary structural design to architecture, engineering, and construction management students, and it’s interesting to find linkages between the present and the past.

What’s the best discovery you’ve made in your research?

I’m not sure about discovery, but I have been able to examine things in unique ways—and “unlock” different ways of understanding. For example, with my work on thin-shell concrete structures in the Pacific Northwest, it was necessary to understand the geographical and historical context of region as well as the architectural motivations and engineering-based principles. Only with all these things together can we appreciate why they were so attractive at the time and so prolific. I’m interested in topics like this—ones that require a multi-disciplinary understanding.

Do you have a favorite classroom moment?

I love exposing students to the technical aspects of history and appreciating the technology, or engineering, of the past. Old buildings and structures aren’t just relics, but many actually contain innovation and lessons that we can take forward to today. This also provides grounding, helping architecture and engineering students understand that we are all part of a long legacy of design and innovation—beyond our immediate moment.

What’s the next big thing in your field?

Timber! Wood structures are fascinating as a vital part of a low-carbon construction future—with the rise in mass timber (heavy, composite wood systems). Wood construction also has a long—and interesting—history, present in many cultures around the world, with different traditions and approaches. From the tools that are used to wood that’s available, there’s tremendous variety in the way wood structures have been designed and built. There’s so much to learn from the history of wood structures, and I’m excited to explore this more. Surrounded by forests, the University of Washington is a great place to explore the past and future of wood structures.

What’s on your bedside table? What’s your next read?

I’ve been re-reading James Gordon’s Structures: Why Things Don’t Fall Down (1978), a wonderfully philosophical perspective on engineering, history, and design. I’m also reading Hillary Stewart’s Cedar: Tree of Life to North Coast Indians (UW Press, 1984) and appreciating the Indigenous approach to connecting forest to communities. I guess I still like old books too…

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