Ove Arup: Theoretical and Moral Positions in Practice and the Origins of an Engineering Firm

Abstract

Founded by Sir Ove Arup in 1946, Arup is one of the largest global engineering consultancies offering design services for the built environment. Throughout his career Sir Ove continually reflected on his practice and its role in producing more or less socially robust urban environments. Analysis of documents from his personal and professional archive provides a case study of a practice-based engineer-philosopher. Sir Ove’s writings and reflections develop the central elements of his ‘Total Design’ philosophy: a philosophy that can be characterized as an engineering philosophy of technology as defined by Carl Mitcham (1994), based on an instrumentalist understanding of the nature of technology (Feenberg 2002). Through this case study we see how an influential engineer addressed issues of engineering method, the purpose of engineering, and its role in society, and also developed a framework for the translation of values into practice in engineering.