{"id":19191,"date":"2023-11-23T15:40:05","date_gmt":"2023-11-23T20:40:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/?p=19191"},"modified":"2024-01-04T11:12:34","modified_gmt":"2024-01-04T16:12:34","slug":"designing-iconic-environments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2023\/11\/designing-iconic-environments\/","title":{"rendered":"Designing Iconic Environments"},"content":{"rendered":"\"A<\/a>\n

Craig Schwitter \u201989 is a passionate advocate for integrating engineering, architectural design, and rapid advances in technology to improve people\u2019s lives. And that means considering every aspect of a project\u2019s possible impacts on a community\u2014from health and the local economy to climate change.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
Craig Schwitter \u201989<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At Buro Happold, a global engineering and advisory practice with offices throughout the United States, Schwitter has led collaborations with cities, corporations, colleges, and some of the world\u2019s leading architects to build not just structures, but iconic environments. With a background in structural engineering, Schwitter joined the firm in 1992 and currently serves as both senior partner and global board chair.<\/p>\n

Schwitter and Buro Happold are committed to Net Zero, the movement to completely negate the amount of greenhouse gases produced by human activity. \u201cSustainability is increasingly important to our clients. The tools are there, and I am incredibly optimistic,\u201d says Schwitter, who majored in civil engineering<\/a> at the Whiting School<\/a>, and then went on to earn a master\u2019s in civil engineering at MIT.<\/p>\n

His many projects include New York City\u2019s High Line, the celebrated transformation of a long-abandoned stretch of an elevated Manhattan rail line into a public park overlooking the Hudson River. There is also the \u201cbreathable\u201d bank building in Pittsburgh, a sun-drenched 33-floor edifice with a sophisticated double-skin ventilation system. Buro Happold also led work on Atlanta\u2019s Mercedes Benz Stadium with its impossibly elegant (and technically challenging) retractable roof, made of eight translucent \u201cpetals\u201d that open like the eye of a camera.<\/p>\n

Perhaps most technically and aesthetically dazzling of all, there is the Jewel at Singapore\u2019s Changi Airport, a 1.4-million-square-foot glass-enclosed entertainment and shopping complex. It features a seven-story rain-fed waterfall and terraced forest topped by a stunning \u201cgrid-shell\u201d roof made possible only by recent advances in computer-generated parts and design.<\/p>\n

\u201cCollaboration is the key. You need everyone\u2019s expertise,\u201d says Schwitter, who has been an industry advisor to the U.S. State Department and has taught at Columbia University\u2019s graduate school of architecture, where he helped develop a curriculum for teaching technology to architects.<\/p>\n

But he also believes his most important collaborators are the people destined to use the spaces. \u201cOnce in a while, when I have a few minutes in New York, I go up on the High Line and just sit and watch people walk and talk and enjoy themselves. I can\u2019t think of anything more satisfying.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Craig Schwitter \u201989 is a passionate advocate for integrating engineering, architectural design, and rapid advances in technology to improve people\u2019s lives. And that means considering every aspect of a project\u2019s possible impacts on a community\u2014from health and the local economy to climate change. At Buro Happold, a global engineering and advisory practice with offices throughout…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34,"featured_media":19255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","issue-winter-2024"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDesigning Iconic Environments - JHU Engineering Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Read how Johns Hopkins alum Craig Schwitter integrates engineering, architectural design, and technology to improve people\u2019s lives.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2023\/11\/designing-iconic-environments\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Designing Iconic Environments\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Read how Johns Hopkins alum Craig Schwitter integrates engineering, architectural design, and technology to improve people\u2019s lives.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2023\/11\/designing-iconic-environments\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"JHU Engineering Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-23T20:40:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-04T16:12:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/schwitter-environments.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1195\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"797\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Steve James\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Steve James\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/designing-iconic-environments\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/designing-iconic-environments\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Steve James\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/52c2b816c9aee29f66e4052a43ede815\"},\"headline\":\"Designing Iconic Environments\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-23T20:40:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-04T16:12:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/designing-iconic-environments\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":416,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/designing-iconic-environments\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/shutterstock_713811469.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Alumni\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/designing-iconic-environments\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/designing-iconic-environments\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/designing-iconic-environments\\\/\",\"name\":\"Designing Iconic Environments - JHU Engineering Magazine\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/designing-iconic-environments\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/designing-iconic-environments\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/shutterstock_713811469.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-23T20:40:05+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-04T16:12:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/52c2b816c9aee29f66e4052a43ede815\"},\"description\":\"Read how Johns Hopkins alum Craig Schwitter integrates engineering, architectural design, and technology to improve people\u2019s lives.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/designing-iconic-environments\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/designing-iconic-environments\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/designing-iconic-environments\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/shutterstock_713811469.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/shutterstock_713811469.jpeg\",\"width\":1800,\"height\":797,\"caption\":\"Panoramic view of the High Line promenade at twilight with city lights and illuminated skyscrapers.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/2023\\\/11\\\/designing-iconic-environments\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Designing Iconic Environments\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/\",\"name\":\"JHU Engineering Magazine\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/engineering.jhu.edu\\\/magazine-archive\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/52c2b816c9aee29f66e4052a43ede815\",\"name\":\"Steve James\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/719143674fbd0dfe9b13b9bf44938cca11745b3f077168adf141570a4a752ecd?s=96&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/719143674fbd0dfe9b13b9bf44938cca11745b3f077168adf141570a4a752ecd?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/719143674fbd0dfe9b13b9bf44938cca11745b3f077168adf141570a4a752ecd?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Steve James\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Designing Iconic Environments - JHU Engineering Magazine","description":"Read how Johns Hopkins alum Craig Schwitter integrates engineering, architectural design, and technology to improve people\u2019s lives.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2023\/11\/designing-iconic-environments\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Designing Iconic Environments","og_description":"Read how Johns Hopkins alum Craig Schwitter integrates engineering, architectural design, and technology to improve people\u2019s lives.","og_url":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2023\/11\/designing-iconic-environments\/","og_site_name":"JHU Engineering Magazine","article_published_time":"2023-11-23T20:40:05+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-01-04T16:12:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1195,"height":797,"url":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/schwitter-environments.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Steve James","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Steve James","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2023\/11\/designing-iconic-environments\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2023\/11\/designing-iconic-environments\/"},"author":{"name":"Steve James","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/#\/schema\/person\/52c2b816c9aee29f66e4052a43ede815"},"headline":"Designing Iconic Environments","datePublished":"2023-11-23T20:40:05+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-04T16:12:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2023\/11\/designing-iconic-environments\/"},"wordCount":416,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2023\/11\/designing-iconic-environments\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/shutterstock_713811469.jpeg","articleSection":["Alumni"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2023\/11\/designing-iconic-environments\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2023\/11\/designing-iconic-environments\/","url":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2023\/11\/designing-iconic-environments\/","name":"Designing Iconic Environments - JHU Engineering Magazine","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2023\/11\/designing-iconic-environments\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2023\/11\/designing-iconic-environments\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/shutterstock_713811469.jpeg","datePublished":"2023-11-23T20:40:05+00:00","dateModified":"2024-01-04T16:12:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/#\/schema\/person\/52c2b816c9aee29f66e4052a43ede815"},"description":"Read how Johns Hopkins alum Craig Schwitter integrates engineering, architectural design, and technology to improve people\u2019s lives.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2023\/11\/designing-iconic-environments\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2023\/11\/designing-iconic-environments\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2023\/11\/designing-iconic-environments\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/shutterstock_713811469.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/shutterstock_713811469.jpeg","width":1800,"height":797,"caption":"Panoramic view of the High Line promenade at twilight with city lights and illuminated skyscrapers."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/2023\/11\/designing-iconic-environments\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Designing Iconic Environments"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/#website","url":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/","name":"JHU Engineering Magazine","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/#\/schema\/person\/52c2b816c9aee29f66e4052a43ede815","name":"Steve James","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/719143674fbd0dfe9b13b9bf44938cca11745b3f077168adf141570a4a752ecd?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/719143674fbd0dfe9b13b9bf44938cca11745b3f077168adf141570a4a752ecd?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/719143674fbd0dfe9b13b9bf44938cca11745b3f077168adf141570a4a752ecd?s=96&r=g","caption":"Steve James"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19191"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19675,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19191\/revisions\/19675"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/magazine-archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}