Army barracks canopy, Chur, 1998, by Jürg Conzett in collaboration with Guido Lauber.

The work of Swiss engineer Jürg Conzett and his partners in structures ranging from footbridges to large buildings has been recognized as intricate and elegantly beautiful. Whether they are made of timber, concrete or steel, it is often their underlying "anonymous" structural design that gives them shape and makes them stand out.

A new book, "Structure as Space: Engineering and Architecture in the Works of Jürg Conzett and His Partners" (Architectural Association Publications), explores in-depth the relationship between engineering and architecture and the impact of engineering infrastructures on the natural environment.

Edited and with an introductory chapter by Mohsen Mostafavi, dean of Cornell's College of Architecture, Art and Planning (AAP), the 304-page, large-format book also includes chapters by Conzett and by Bruno Reichlin, a Swiss architect and theorist.

Traversina Bridge, Graubünden, 1999-2005

Conzett will speak at Cornell Tuesday, Oct. 3, at 5:15 p.m. in 157 E. Sibley on "What Is a Conceptual Design?" The lecture is presented by the AAP Dean's Lecture Series and is free and open to the public.

Conzett has been a key figure in redefining the role of structural engineering and its relation to architecture, and he has worked with many of Switzerland's leading architects. He studied civil engineering in Lausanne and worked for architect Peter Zumthor before becoming an independent structural engineering consultant. Today he leads an engineering office of 19 people with his partners, Gianfranco Bronzini and Patrick Gartmann, in Chur, Switzerland.

The firm's work featured in "Structure as Space" includes many bridges as well as an army canteen building and a canopy for an army barracks, a school in a remote farming community and buildings for a goat dairy.

The book contains many photographs of finished projects, but that is not its emphasis. It serves as a how-to manual, with structural diagrams and engineering drawings detailing the secrets underlying the development of each structure. Conzett also writes about his fascination with maps.

"Structure as Space" is available in the United States from Princeton Architectural Press.