Ysrael Seinuk, 78 - Made Tall, Sleek Buildings Possible - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com

Ysrael Seinuk, 78 - Made Tall, Sleek Buildings Possible - Obituary (Obit) - NYTimes.com: "It is structural engineers who allow the architect to sleep peacefully at night. They must analyze the forces, like seismic events, that can affect buildings, with their calculations becoming more complex as buildings are designed to be taller and sleeker. They must determine the strength and flexibility of the construction materials, including the floor slabs, the beams and the columns.

Mr. Seinuk’s “real genius was the design of high-rise buildings using reinforced concrete as the structural material,” Elizabeth O’Donnell, associate dean of architecture at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, said Tuesday. (Reinforced concrete incorporates metal bars — rebars — grids, plates or fibers to strengthen the structure.)

“I think of him as the person who brought reinforced concrete to New York City,” Dean O’Donnell said, “because this was primarily a city where its high-rises were structured in steel.”

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