engineering

Werner Sobek

Werner Sobek is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Werner Sobek rather than just read about it. In short: Werner Sobek (born May 16, 1953) is a German architect and structural engineer. Life Werner Sobek was born 1953 in Aalen, Germany.

Key takeaways

Werner Sobek belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Werner Sobek to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Werner Sobek from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Werner Sobek (born May 16, 1953) is a German architect and structural engineer.

Life Werner Sobek was born 1953 in Aalen, Germany. From 1974 to 1980, he studied structural engineering and architecture at the University of Stuttgart. From 1980 to 1986, he was a post-graduate fellow in the research project 'Wide-Span Lightweight Structures' at the University of Stuttgart and finished his PhD 1987 in structural engineering. In 1983, Sobek won the Fazlur Khan International Fellowship from the SOM Foundation. In 1991, he became a professor at the Leibniz University Hannover (successor to Bernd Tokarz) and director of the Institute for Structural Design and Building Methods. In 1992 he founded his own company Werner Sobek which now has offices in Stuttgart, Frankfurt, London, Moscow, New York, and Dubai. The company has over 200 employees and works with all types of structures and materials. Its core areas of expertise are lightweight construction, high-rise construction, façade design, special constructions made from steel, glass, titanium, fabric and wood, as well as the design of sustainable buildings. Since 1994, he has been a professor at the University of Stuttgart (successor to Frei Otto) and director of the Institute for Lightweight Structures and of the Central Laboratory for Structural Engineering. In 2000, he took over the chair of Jörg Schlaich, and fused the Institute for Lightweight Structures and the Institute for Construction and Design into the Institute for Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design (ILEK). Both in its research and teaching, the ILEK at the University of Stuttgart unites the aspect of design that is dominant in architecture with the focus on analysis and construction from structural engineering as well as materials science. On the basis of a goal-oriented and interdisciplinary approach, the institute is concerned with the conceptual development of all types of construction and load-bearing structures, using all types of materials. The areas of focus span construction with textiles and glass all the way to new structures in reinforced and prestressed concrete. From the individual details to the whole structure, the approach focuses on the optimisation of form and construction with respect to material and energy use, durability and reliability, recyclability and environmental sustainability. The results of this work are published in the bilingual (German/English) serial from the institute (IL) or published individually in special research reports on particular topics. In 2008 Werner Sobek was appointed Mies van der Rohe Professor at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. In recognition of his manifold academic achievements, the Technical University of Dresden awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2009. Werner Sobek is known for his environmentally sustainable and self-sufficient prototype houses such as R 128, H16, B 10. A well-known concept study by Werner Sobek is "R-129" which uses a polyurethane skin on a carbon-fibre frame, giving it walls thinner than eggshells. His commitment to sustainability is also reflected in his involvement in the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen), which he co-founders in July 2007. He was a member of the DGNB's board of directors until June 2013 and serve as its president from April 2008 to June 2010. In December 2011 he also founded the Stuttgart Institute of Sustainability (SIS), a nonprofit association aiming at the promotion of research on new sustainable building techniques. He presented a keynote address and co-presented in the workshop Reduce CO2 – With technology to zero emissions at the 3rd International Holcim Forum 2010 in Mexico City and is on the Jury of the global Holcim Awards 2012. His research into lightweight structures, materials and the associated techniques and technologies is awarded a Global Award for Sustainable Architecture in 2019.

Projects Ecole Nationale d'Art Décoratif, Limoges, France Interbank, Lima, Peru Roof over the centercourt of the Am Rothenbaum stadium, Hamburg, Germany Suvarnabhumi Airport, Bangkok, Thailand Sony Center, Berlin, Germany House R 128, Stuttgart, Germany Aktivhaus B10, Stuttgart, Germany

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Werner Sobek

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Werner Sobek claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Werner Sobek before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Werner Sobek ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Werner Sobek

In research: Werner Sobek appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Werner Sobek in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Werner Sobek is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1953 births, 20th-century German architects, 21st-century German architects, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Werner Sobek outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Werner Sobek in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Werner Sobek means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Werner Sobek out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Werner Sobek in simple terms?

Werner Sobek (born May 16, 1953) is a German architect and structural engineer. Life Werner Sobek was born 1953 in Aalen, Germany.

Why does Werner Sobek matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Werner Sobek?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Werner Sobek.