The Mansueto Library – Notes on a glazed steel grid shell from design to construction

The highlight of the Joe and Rika Mansueto Library in Chicago is an almost dematerialized glazed steel grid shell spanning over the reading room. The geometrically constructed translational shell is 36.5 m wide, 73 m long and features a mesh size of 2 by 2 m. The building, currently under construction, includes further special structures as a 20 m long, glazed steel bridge connecting the new library with the existing building and a row of glass study rooms, which reach a total transparency by exploiting the structural properties of glass. The present article gives an overview of the design, calculation and construction phases of the grid shell and the other special structures.