The following list is a summary of his vision:
- He believed the best buildings are the result of a symbiotic relationship between the architect and the engineer, where the engineer is the objective inventor and the architect the creative input.
- He was convinced that there was nothing mysterious about the process of innovation. He was never satisfied with mundane solutions. He took risks during the early stages of the design process.
- He combined advanced structural analysis techniques with investigations of materials in order to achieve the best structural systems.
- Peter confessed to learn just what he needed to know when he needed it.
According to Rice, the roles of the engineer are:
- The use of the engineer’s understanding of materials and structure to make real the architectural designs.
- Innovation and support the creativity of architects.
|Sydney Opera House (1973, Jorn Utzon)|
|Louvre Pyramid (Paris, 1988, Ming Pei)|
|Lloyd’s of London (London, 1986, Richard Rogers)|
|Stansted London Airport (1991)|
Cité des Sciences at La Villette (Paris, 1987, Adrien Fainsilber)
- Drilled glass panels with countersunk holes for point fixings supports.
- Spherical bearings keeps all loads in the glass plane and eliminate local bending effects.
- Horizontal cable trusses resists out-of-plane wind forces.
|An Engineer Imagines (Peter Rice)|
|Structural Glass (Peter Rice&Hugh Dutton)|