Tyler S. Sprague is structural engineer and historian, in the Department of Architecture, with an adjunct appointment in Civil and Environmental Engineering, at the University of Washington, where he teaches courses in architectural & structural history and design. He earned engineering degrees from the University of California, Berkeley and the University of Washington, and worked professionally as a structural engineer, before completing his Ph.D. in architectural history in the College of Built Environments at the UW. His research investigates the intersection of architecture and structural engineering, through a variety of methods, throughout history. His book, Sculpture on a Grand Scale: The Thin Shell Modernism of Jack Christiansen, was published by the UW Press in 2019. The Seattle-based engineer Jack Christiansen was an under-recognized contributor to the global thin shell concrete community, as the designer of the largest thin shell concrete dome in the world, the Seattle Kingdome (1976). His work on early concrete-frame skyscrapers in the Pacific Northwest was awarded the 2016 Charles Gates Award by the Washington State Historical Society for "best article of the year" in Pacific Northwest Quarterly. He currently serves on the board of the Construction History Society of America, and as president Docomomo US/WeWa (Western Washington).
Tyler S. Sprague, P.E., Ph.D., LEED AP
