Chris Williams

Senior Lecturer in Structural Engineering

Undergrad Admissions Tutor: BEng / MEng in Civil / Civil and Architectural Engineering

Tutor: Civil Engineering: Placements

Chris Williams is a structural engineer who worked for Ove Arup and Partners prior to joining the Department.

Chris has a particular interest in the relationship between geometrical form and structural action as applied to bridges, shells, tension structures and tall buildings. This leads to the use of specially written computer programs to generate complex, often organic, forms for architectural and structural applications. His work has been applied in practice with architects and engineers including Foster and Partners, Richard Rogers Partnership, Branson Coates Architecture and Buro Happold.

Chris's teaching interests include design project work with students of both architecture and engineering, structural analysis, computer programming and continuum mechanics. Chris's recent achievements include:

Invited speaker at:

Architectural Association, London; Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation, Columbia University, New York; University of Pennsylvania School of Design, Philadelphia; National Technical University of Athens; Civil Engineering Department, TU Delft, Netherlands; Architecture Department, HTW Chur, Switzerland; Cambridge University Engineering Department; Departmento de Matemática, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal; Faculdade de Arquitectura da Universidade do Porto, Portugal; Martin Centre, Architectural Research, Cambridge University; Foster and Partners; Arup Associates, London; Fielden Clegg Bradley, London

Smartgeometry Tutor
Visiting Professor at the School of Architecture, Royal Academy of Fine Arts, CopenhagenDefined geometry and performed non-linear structural analysis of:

British Museum Great Court roof (Foster and Partners, Buro Happold, Waagner-Biro); Weald and Downland Museum gridshell (Edward Cullinan Architects, Buro Happold, Green Oak Carpentry); Savill Gardens gridshell (Glenn Howells Architects, Buro Happold, Green Oak Carpentry)