Mineo Tanaka
"An Exhibition Hall with a Cable-Stayed Roof" (MARCH 1978)
Advisor: David C. Sharpe
Others acknowledged: Fazlur Khan
Model Photographs: Uncredited
Material: Steel
Structural system: Cable-stayed two-way truss roof system
Maximum span: 330 ft.
“It is apparent that for spans in the range of 300 to 400 feet, only a few systems can compete in material weight with a cable-stayed system. However, when extended to the range of 600 feet, no other system can compete with the cable-stayed roof system.”
Mineo Tanaka’s thesis was a development of the structure in Lawrence Kenny’s 1968 “Railway Station for Chicago,” which used a smaller square bay design. Tanaka’s exhibition hall is 600 by 1,320 feet, divided into 150 foot by 330 foot rectangular bays. He analyzed that with rectangular bays, fewer cables would be required than with the square bay. Tanaka was also able to eliminate the hold-down cables of Kenny’s proposal by employing a two-way roof truss system. The truss expression was echoed in the vertical trusses of the building enclosure.
