On Tuesday May 11 2004. Space.City sponsored an evening with Dr. Werner Sobek of Werner Sobek Ingenieure.

Werner Sobek founded Werner Sobek Ingenieure (WSI) in 1992, a structural engineering and design consultancy operating on a global basis. Its work focusses on design and high-end engineering but WSI is also engaged in traditional engineering tasks.

Professor of Engineering at University of Stuttgart since 1995, Werner Sobek merged the two renowned chairs of Frei Otto and Jörg Schlaich at the University of Stuttgart into the Institute for Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design (ILEK) in 2001.

He is co-author of "R128 by Werner Sobek", "Steel Construction Manual", "Glass Construction Manual", "Stahlbau Atlas", "SOM Journal2",and "Archi-neering", and subject of "Werner Sobek: Ingenieurkunst / Art of Engineering" by Werner Blaser.

Among the most important projects executed by WSI are the New Bangkok International Airport, the motor show stand of Audi AG, the Ecole Nationale d'Art Décoratif at Limoges and the SONY Center in Berlin.

The work of WSI has been awarded numerous international awards, e.g. the Hubert-Rüsch Award of the German Concrete Research Association, the DuPont Benedictus Award, the Design Award of the Industrial Fabrics Association International, the European Award for Laminated Timber Construction, the Fritz Schumacher Award of the Alfred Töpfer Foundation as well as the 'Building of the Year' award of AIV Hamburg.

We invite you to visit the work of Werner Sobek Ingenieure online: http://www.wernersobek.com

R128 Photo: Roland HalbeWerner

Already regarded as an architectural icon comparable to Mies van der Rohe's Barcelona Pavilion or Farnsworth House, Werner Sobek's glass house R128 (Römerstrasse 128) in Stuttgart is residential technology taken to the highest possible level of sophistication. Sobek's open-plan cube wrapped in a glass shield is an ecological show-house of precise minimalism. There are no walls and no closed rooms. The house provides its own energy. Recognizing Sobek's voice, the front door opens if called. R 128 is a prototype. R 129 is already being planned.