“Masterbuilder of the Twentieth Century” – Ove Nyquist Arup

A profile of Ove Arup, the founder of Arup, which is now an international engineering consulting firm.

Ove Arup. Image from aefirms.wordpress.com

Doodles and doggerel

on paper, in rhyme

Crumbs of wisdom

or waste of time?

Dottiness creeps in

whatever I do – Or is it just that nature

is dotty too?

– Ove Arup, ‘Doodles and Doggerel’, p.3

Ove Nyquist Arup was a man with a tendency to misplace his briefcase containing important documents. He had the cheek to ask the King of Denmark what his name was. He wrote in his reflections that ‘Absentmindedness is that which distinguishes man from other animals.’  He carried a pair of chopsticks in his jacket pocket – evident in many a photo – which he used, according to Jones, ‘to poach enticing dishes from his neighbour’s plate’. And he is described as the “masterbuilder of the twentieth century”.