Structural Engineer Skilling Dies -- His Work, Vision Shaped Much Of Seattle's Skyline

John Skilling, a structural engineer who helped design the 110-story twin towers of the World Trade Center in Manhattan and whose skyscrapers created today's skyline in Seattle, died here of an apparent stroke yesterday at 76.

Everywhere you look in Seattle, you see Mr. Skilling's work, from the original 50-story Seafirst Building (1969), which was the first of downtown's modern skyscrapers, to the tallest building - the 76-story Columbia Seafirst Center (1985).

His sights were often set even higher. In a 1986 interview with The Seattle Times, Mr. Skilling said, "I'd love to do a building 150 to 200 stories tall."

Although he worked in Seattle for more than 45 years and helped gain a worldwide reputation for his company, Skilling Ward Magnusson Barkshire, Mr. Skilling was hardly a household name here. But he was well-known elsewhere.

Jon Magnusson, who succeeded him as chief executive of the engineering firm, remembers traveling with Mr. Skilling through a steel-fabrication plant in South Korea. When the engineers heard Mr. Skilling was visiting, they came out from the back rooms and literally sat at his feet, Magnusson said.

Magnusson said that perhaps the reason "Skilling" might not be a famous name is that structural engineers usually fade into the background. "When something bad happens, that's when the structural engineer becomes famous," he joked.

In the 1986 interview, Mr. Skilling said he didn't mind that

architects earned more money and recognition than structural engineers.

"The architect is responsible for the overall design. If the building falls down, it's my fault."

Mr. Skilling specialized not only in tall buildings, but also long ones, including the Washington State Convention and Trade Center.

Altogether, the Skilling firm is credited with the structural design of more than 1,000 buildings in 36 states and 27 countries, including more than 140 in the Seattle area. Among those are the Pacific Science Center (built for the 1962 World's Fair), the 20-story IBM Building that was constructed one year later, the 63-story Gateway Tower (now Key Tower) and many of the buildings owned by Unico Properties, including the 56-story Two Union Square and its 38-story neighbor, One Union Square.

"He was a fabulous conceptual structural engineer, because he thought like an architect," said Bill Bain, a Seattle architect who worked with him on a number of projects. "Some engineers will just ask `What do you want'? and then tell you whether or not you can do it," Bain said. "He didn't work that way. We would be side by side all through a project. He would never think that something couldn't be worked out. He was the most non-negative engineer I ever met."

Mr. Skilling's national honors include being the only structural engineer included in the first election to the National Academy of Engineering.

He also was made an honorary member of the American Institute of Architects, an unusual achievement for an engineer.

Mr. Skilling was born in Los Angeles on Oct. 8, 1921. His family moved to Washington state when his father, also an engineer, was supervising post-office construction in the Seattle area. He graduated from Kent High School.

Mr. Skilling entered the University of Washington to study engineering, but his academic career was interrupted by World War II. Although his eyesight kept him out of military service, Mr. Skilling worked at Boeing during the war years, then returned to the UW to graduate in 1947.

While at the UW, Mr. Skilling met and married Mary Jane Skilling, his wife of nearly 55 years, when they were taking the same economics class.

The precursor to the Skilling firm actually began in Seattle in 1923. But it stayed small until the early 1950s when Mr. Skilling and his partners "completely changed the complexion and made it a leading-edge firm," according to Magnusson.

At one point, he said, the president of U.S. Steel was giving a presentation on the top 10 buildings in America, and Mr. Skilling had helped designed four of them.

Bain said that it was the ability to innovate that separated Mr. Skilling from other engineers. As an example, he noted the original Seafirst Building, in which so much weight is borne by the interior elevator core that the rest of the building can be open to the outside.

Mr. Skilling thought that the no-frills building, which was dubbed locally as "the box the Space Needle came in" was beautiful.

"It's not phony," he said in the 1986 interview.

Mr. Skilling became chief executive of the firm in 1983 and served in that capacity until he retired two years ago.

He remained active as a member of the board and became interested in, and an investor in, the Wild Ginger, a popular downtown restaurant opened by his daughter and son-in-law, Anne and Rick Yoder.

More recently, Mr. Skilling was involved in their restoration of the historic Mann Building, at Third Avenue and Union Street in downtown Seattle, into a restaurant and theater.

Although devoted to his profession - he'd often come back into the office on Monday morning armed with drawings he'd done over the weekend - Mr. Skilling enjoyed golf and tennis and cooking for his family.

His specialty was Asian cuisine, a cooking skill picked up on his many trips to the Far East.

Locally, Mr. Skilling was a member of the Broadmoor Golf Club, Washington Athletic Club and Seattle Tennis Club.

Mr. Skilling lived in the Washington Park neighborhood. He apparently suffered a stroke early Wednesday and died about 9 a.m. yesterday in Swedish Medical Center/Seattle without regaining consciousness.

Survivors include his wife; daughters Susan Skilling and Ann Skilling Yoder of Seattle; and son Bill Skilling of Kirkland.

A memorial service is planned at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at University Presbyterian Church.

A reception will follow. Remembrances may be made to Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center and the Western Washington Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.

David Schaefer's phone message number is 206-464-3141. His e-mail address is: dsch-new@seatimes.com

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John Skilling's skyline

Structural engineer John Skilling helped Seattle grow up, and up, and up. Teamed with architects, Mr. Skilling and his firm created most of the city's skyline. Here are some of his greatest projects.

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PACIFIC SCIENCE CENTER .

Height: 100 feet .

Construction year: 1962 .

Address: 200 Second Avenue .

(Seattle Center Grounds) .

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IBM BUILDING .

Height: 20 stories - 272 feet .

Construction year: 1963 .

Address: Fifth Avenue and Seneca Street .

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SEAFIRST BUILDING .

Height: 50 stories - 609 feet .

Construction year: 1969 .

Address: Fourth Avenue and Madison Street .

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CENTURY SQUARE .

Height: 29 stories - 336 feet .

Construction year: 1985 .

Address: Fourth Avenue and Pike Street .

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COLUMBIA SEAFIRST CENTER .

Height: 76 stories - 943 feet .

Construction year: 1985 .

Address: Fourth Avenue and Cherry Street .