It’s no surprise that structural engineer Silvian Marcus names Johann Sebastian Bach as his favorite composer, with the latter well known for a complex oeuvre that boggles the mind, from solo keyboard preludes for “The Well Tempered Clavier” to the fully orchestrated “Brandenburg Concertos.” In his famed fugues, the Baroque musician created multiple voices—up to five music staff lines played by one pianist.

When speaking with Marcus about a specific project or about his storied career that led to his selection as ENR New York’s Legacy Award winner for 2021, he will inevitably compare designing and building to music and dance, with all project team members playing their parts.

“I find similarities with engineering in poetry and even music. In general, there’s music in a building—as the weight and wind forces grow from the top down, it’s a sort of crescendo in a classical symphony,” Marcus says. “This music makes a structure work better, exist better, easier to build and gives a better usage—an unwritten poem.”

在谈论自己的作品时，WSP USA建筑结构的总监会经过巨大的，看似不同的工作概述。

近年来有大量的超级勒索建筑，最著名的是1,396英尺高的432 Park Ave.，其足迹与高度测量的比率为1:15。为了防止它在轻风中摇摆，这可能会吓到或惹恼乘员，他说他创建了“五个空地”，使风穿过建筑物，“就像戳开帆，也添加了1,300吨damper on top that acts “like a shock absorber” and reduces the building’s acceleration.

该工程师还从事纽约和新泽西以外的令人印象深刻的项目，包括佛罗里达州的国际网球中心；新利18备用网址迪拜的海洋塔；而且，在他的祖国以色列，海法的大峡谷购物中心和特拉维夫的莱文斯坦塔。

But it’s interesting to see where the structural engineering stalwart, who declines to give his age but notes his American career started after immigrating to the U.S. in 1969, when “we subleased an apartment on W. 66th St. just a block from the Metropolitan Opera.” Marcus soon got a job with a now-defunct firm for $175 a week, and in 1972 joined the Office of Irwin G. Cantor.

Early Iconography

马库斯（Marcus）在该公司担任项目经理的57街的Galleria（最终成为WSP之前成为Cantor-Seinuk集团）是当时最高的住宅大楼。值得注意的是，从工程的角度来看，其一半的柱子在不同的位置转移，以促进各种布局。

Stewart Rawlings Mott, son of a General Motors co-founder, had planned to live in the Galleria’s 16,000-sq-ft penthouse, where he hoped to grow potatoes and other vegetables as well as raise livestock “and see how they will survive in a tall building,” Marcus recalls. The heir never moved in, but the building, completed in 1976, kicked off 57th Street’s transformation into Billionaires Row.

On the flip side of the residential sector was Marcus’ subsequent big project: the Morrisania Houses, an affordable housing complex in the Bronx comprising three residential towers built over the Harlem Railroad lines that were completed in the 1970s. “That was one of the first articles where my name was mentioned, and they took a picture of me in between the tracks,” Marcus fondly remembers.

While known for his skyscrapers, Marcus also took charge of WSP’s work at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, which he says “was the government’s desire to show the world ‘we are there and we are acting,’” and promising that life in the area “will come back.”

在附近，他还曾在7 WTC办公室高层楼和前Beekman Tower上工作，现在被称为Spruce Street 8号，由Frank Gehry设计，并具有“起伏的外墙”，看起来像是在76层的住宅中流下的涟漪塔。他谈到设计和“非常雕塑”时说：“这是非常动态的。”但是他必须确保这“相对容易建造”，并且内部的那些不会被墙壁和圆柱妨碍。”

56 Leonard, the so-called Jenga Building with balconies that jut out, or cantilever, at odd lengths, is similarly sculptural, says Marcus, who was also involved on that project.

这是Marcus开始将工程学与表演艺术进行比较的地方。他说：“当我开始与建筑师合作时，我希望创建关注的概念。”这是建筑师与工程师之间的舞蹈。“这些步骤必须相同，”马库斯解释说。“如果一位舞者在音乐节奏之外移动，那舞就不起作用。”

It’s not just project teammates who dance together. At American Copper on E. 35th Street, two buildings connected at mid-height by a suspension bridge look like they’re leaning away at odd angles. Marcus says he figured out a way to “incline the columns—let [them] follow the shape of the building.” That way, “they will dance together instead of going against each other.”

All his talk of performance art and striking presentations makes even more sense after speaking with those who have worked with Marcus.

“He’s my uncle in construction—my sexier, better-dressed uncle,” says Timothy Flynn, senior vice president of design and construction at Rockefeller Group. Flynn worked with Marcus while the former was previously employed by developer Hines on 53 West 53, the condo tower built atop the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) that received ENR New York’s Project of the Year award for 2020.

弗林解释说：“我们可能正在大规模开会，试图解决一些问题。然后是西尔维安（Sylvian），穿着凉爽的皮夹克和太阳镜。”WSP高级副总裁Hezi Mena还回忆起他们如何在会议上“时尚”到来，并且当他们进入时，“所有人的眼睛”将“专注于Silvian，总是穿着良好的打扮”，并配有口袋手帕。

具有风格的物质

尽管如此，梅纳还是强调这种风格永远不会遮盖马库斯的物质。他说：“每当西尔维安讲话时，人们都会保持沉默并倾听。”梅纳（Mena）认为，马库斯（Marcus）“总是对某件事有洞察力”，例如为工程挑战提供“整体方法”。不管客户或项目是什么，马库斯说他的目标是同样取悦建筑师和开发人员。

“They come in with the idea of building aesthetics, maximum usage and a budget,” he says. “The engineer, who is in the shadow of the architect, has to create and make sure that whatever the architectural vision is, it is transformed into reality,” and within the developer’s expected cost, he says—and an engineer is “placed in the middle.”

Marcus manages everyone’s expectations well, mentees and colleagues say. “Silvian’s No. 1 rule is never to say ‘no’ to a client request,” says Mena, adding that Marcus will point out, “We landed a man on the moon, so we can engineer anything.”

该公司的另一位高级副总裁Susan Erdelyi Hamos解释了Marcus如何实现这些目标。

她说：“直到今天，他总是要求工程人员尽可能多地开发尽可能多的解决方案。”哈莫斯补充说：“我听说，从众多与西尔维安合作的建筑师那里听说……他从未说过他们的任何设计思想是不可能实施的。”

WSP执行副总裁兼美国建筑结构总监艾哈迈德·拉希米安（Ahmad Rahimian）在马库斯（Marcus）在康托尔（Cantor）雇用并与他合作。根据拉希米安（Rahimian）的说法，“通常，他在概念成形的同时，与建筑师和开发人员在桌子上占据了前排座位，从而创造了真正的协作环境。”唯一声音稳定，拉希米安（Rahimian）补充说：“与西尔维安（Silvian）合作的乐趣之一是您不会有一个沉闷的时刻”，他赞扬马库斯（Marcus）的“敏捷机智”。

弗林（Flynn）对马库斯（Marcus）的工程实力并没有讽刺他的话。他说：“我认为他是过去四到五十年中最有才华的结构思想之一。”

马库斯很容易地分享了这一想法。2016年，一个非营利组织的高大建筑和城市栖息地委员会，研究如何设计更可持续和健康的城市，要求他在该集团的年度大会上介绍“新的超级：纽约超级省塔”。WSP美国财产和建筑物总裁里克·罗马（Rick Rome）回忆说，马库斯（Marcus）提供的演讲“如此受欢迎，以至于导致只有站立室的人群。”

弗林强调说：“那个家伙还在。”马库斯说，他的最新作品是第五大道上1,000英尺高的建筑物，是如此新，以至于他无法透露更多。另一个新项目是111 W. 57 St.，Marcus解释说的是59英尺宽，高1,400英尺，其细长比率为1:25，“我相信世界纪录”纤细。

该建筑物是在Enr的电话采访中拍摄的照片，这是Central Park West的壮观景色的一部新利18备用分，显示了他的许多项目。新利18备用网址在天际线内是111 W. 57 St.，53 West 53（Moma上的塔楼）和公园大道432号。