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Architecture and Built Environment
 

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John Chilton

Emeritus Professor Architecture & Tectonics,

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Biography

John Chilton is a Chartered Civil Engineer and Emeritus Professor of Architecture + Tectonics in the Department of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Nottingham. After obtaining his BSc (Hons) Civil and Structural Engineering at the University of Leeds (1970), he worked in bridge, highway and structural design. In 1984 he commenced his PhD on the 'CUBIC' Space Frame, under the supervision of the system's inventor Leszek Kubik. On completion, he worked at Burks Green and Partners on the 'CUBIC' Space Frame-roofed FFV Aerotech aircraft hangar at Stansted Airport, which was Supreme Award winner of the British Construction Industry Awards (1989). Joining the, then, Department of Architecture at the University of Nottingham, in 1989, to teach structures and construction, John has also taught at Lincoln School of Architecture, where he was Head of School (2004-2006) and at Nottingham Trent University (2008-2012) before returning to the University of Nottingham in 2012.

Reflecting John's research interest in non-conventional structures, he has been an active member of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures (IASS) www.iass-structures.org since 1990. A member of the IASS Executive Council for 20 years, he was elected a member of the IASS Advisory Board in 2020 and awarded Honorary Distinguished membership in 2021. He is former Chair of IASS WG12 - Timber Spatial Structures and member of WG 5 - Shell Structures and WG15 - Structural Morphology. He has Chaired and Co-Chaired IASS Colloquia and was a member of the Organising and Scientific Committees for the joint IASS/IABSE/Space Structures conference held in London in September 2011.

From 2004-2017, John was Vice-Chair of the TensiNet Association www.tensinet.com, a multi-disciplinary association in the field of tensioned membrane and ETFE foil construction, which follows the initial objectives of the original EU-funded thematic network (2001-2004). He has contributed to the TensiNet publications European Design Guide for Tensile Surface Structures (2004) and Annex 5: Design Recommendations for ETFE Foil Structures (2013). He was also Scientific Committee Chair for the TensiNet - COST TU1303 Symposium 2016.

John has served as a member of the Fabric Advisory Committee (FAC) of Lincoln Cathedral since 2004 and the FAC at Sheffield Cathedral since 2017.

He is the author of three books, Space Grid Structures (2000); Heinz Isler (2000); and, with co-author Gabriel Tang, Timber Gridshells: Architecture, Structure & Craft (2016) and is currently finalising a book on the German architect Michael Balz - Shells and Visions.

Teaching Summary

John Chilton has over 30 years' experience in teaching structures and construction. As Emeritus Professor he contributes occasional lectures. He also continues to co-supervise one PhD student.

Research Summary

Candela-Isler-Müther International Seminars (CIMIS) 2018-2022: Participation in international research and seminars on the reinforced concrete shell structures of Félix Candela, Heinz Isler and… read more

Selected Publications

Department of Architecture and Built Environment

The University of Nottingham
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