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Here鈥檚 a question. What connects the Shard with the London Guildhall School of Music and Drama? Or the Manchester Hilton with 7 World Trade Centre in New York? Or, for that matter, One Blackfriars in London with the Burj Khalifa in Dubai?

Yes, they are all high-rise developments, but the link in each case is the chief engineer. Kamran Moazami, director at engineering consultant WSP, can safely be said to get about a bit. Having cut his teeth in the canyons of New York, Moazami has for the last 17 years applied his knowledge of sky-high development largely in the UK.

An engaging individual with a near-permanent smile, Moazami comes across as a cultured man with a great affinity for urban life. He is also a champion for his profession and talks earnestly about the lengths to which his firm goes to train graduates and enthuse them about the rewards of a career in engineering.

They should find plenty to inspire them in Moazami鈥檚 own back catalogue - for which he was awarded the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering鈥檚 Milne Medal last week. But why has he dedicated his life to high-rise development? And how different does he find working on tall buildings in the UK to New York?

After the revolution

Moazami鈥檚 path towards being one of the world鈥檚 most prolific and respected skyscraper engineers was at least partly accidental. Born and

raised in Iran, in 1975 he went to New York to train as an engineer, gaining first a bachelor鈥檚 degree and then, on a scholarship, his master鈥檚 from Columbia University. 鈥淎t the time Iran was booming in construction,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t was a great thing to go and get an engineering degree from an American university and then go back and have a great life - nightclubs, fantastic beaches. You had it made if you had an education.鈥�
So the plan was to go home, but then geopolitics intervened. 鈥淭he [Iranian] revolution had just taken place and I wanted to go back to help the country to become better,鈥� says Moazami. 鈥淏ut then the Iran/Iraq war happened. I called my father and said, 鈥榃hat can I do?鈥� And he said, 鈥楪o back to school and get your PhD.鈥欌��

Moazami did indeed sign up for the PhD, but a professor suggested that instead he should go out to work and provided an introduction to consultancy Leroy Calendar PC. A successful interview followed and his career in consultancy has grown from there.

Moazami鈥檚 formative years were spent at New York firm Cantor Seinuk, where he worked on a series of prestigious tall buildings. After a spell in London working on Canary Wharf between 1989 and 1992, Moazami returned to New York, only to return to London in 1996, having persuaded Cantor Seinuk鈥檚 founders that investing in a new office would pay off. At that time the company was squarely focused on New York and the idea of opening a London office wasn鈥檛 greeted with enthusiasm. However, he won the argument and WSP acquired the firm in 2000. Since then, Moazami鈥檚 London career has gone from strength to strength, with a CV boasting some of the most famous tall buildings on both sides of the pond.

Convincing the British

It is often said that the US looks down on the UK construction鈥檚 ability when it comes to skyscrapers and, given his background, Moazami is better placed than most to comment. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that has ever been the case,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey have a lot of respect in America for Brits - they love Brits. They work very well together. They have a lot of respect for British engineers.鈥�

London demands exceptional projects and unique projects. That鈥檚 what attracted me here. I didn鈥檛 want to do boring square buildings in New York

However, Moazami does believe that a plague of poorly designed tall buildings, constructed largely in the seventies, led to an instinctive dislike for high-rise development among UK planners and the public alike. This led to a lack of experience among UK engineers and created an opportunity for Moazami and 禄 禄 his colleagues. 鈥淚n the US my company has done so many tall buildings so when we came here it was very unique because we had the experience,鈥� he says.

鈥淎 lot of it is not about engineering, it鈥檚 about gut feeling. When I look at a job I could easily say what will make it work without running any numbers because I鈥檝e done it so many times that it gives me that intuition. That鈥檚 what gives Americans the edge on tall buildings.鈥�

Our historic distaste for tall buildings also creates a challenge for architects and engineers: if they鈥檙e going to stand a chance of winning planning permission, they have to be good - really good. And it is clear that this is key to Moazami鈥檚 passion for working in the UK, and in London in particular.

鈥淭he Shard is probably the best building in the world,鈥� he says. 鈥淎nd in a sense, London demands exceptional projects and unique projects. That鈥檚 something that attracted me to here. I didn鈥檛 want to do boring square buildings in New York. I knew that I would have the opportunity to work with amazing architects and do work that is exceptional.鈥�

Moazami clearly believes that the British are coming round to tall buildings - partly due to the realisation that, if successful global cities are to continue to grow, there is only one way to go. 鈥淐ities like London, Paris and New York - these are the cities where people want to live,鈥� he says.

鈥淎nd it鈥檚 wrong to spread the city. It鈥檚 expensive, with the transport and the infrastructure. So the
natural solution is to go up.鈥�

On the rise

This is an argument that Moazami applies not just to cities hemmed in by water, such as New York, or greenbelt legislation, such as London, but

to the burgeoning metropolises of the Middle East, located largely in areas where space is not an issue. 鈥淭hey have space but if you look at it it鈥檚 still better [to build up],鈥� he says. 鈥淚f you have a space on a desert, what are you going to look at? At least if you go up you鈥檙e creating something special. You鈥檙e also condensing your transportation issues, you鈥檙e condensing your infrastructure issues.鈥�

And that鈥檚 not to mention providing a vital economic stimulus. Moazami believes that high-density development has a key part to play in the revival of both London and the UK鈥檚 other major urban centres. 鈥淟ondon Bridge station wasn鈥檛 prime space before the Shard, but it鈥檚 totally different now,鈥� he says. 鈥淚f you went to Canary Wharf in 1989 it was a dump. But now it is amazing. It鈥檚 the regeneration of the whole depressed area. Now it鈥檚 glamourous, it鈥檚 fantastic. You go back to an area and see how it鈥檚 been transformed and it鈥檚 very rewarding.鈥�

Moazami believes that, after five years in a state of suspended animation, London is limbering up for the next generation of major commercial projects, which considering his place at the top of the supply chain he is well placed to observe. 鈥淓verybody is looking at commercial and it鈥檚 about time,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e鈥檝e finished the Place [at London Bridge] and that building is fully let. We鈥檝e just finished another building in Canary Wharf and it鈥檚 taken. There鈥檚 a lot of speculation and I鈥檓 hoping that soon you鈥檒l hear that a whole bunch of floors at the Shard have been taken.鈥�

So now that plans are being dusted off and a new crop of towers are on their way, will engineers like Moazami eventually step out of the shadows and take their place in the sun alongside their colleagues in architecture? 鈥淲e鈥檙e not good at marketing,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 tell people that the reason this building is here is because of our science and engineering helping the architect to achieve it. Engineers are so down to earth that they don鈥檛 go out there and publicise what they do.鈥�

This, says Moazami, is a shame, because without gifted engineers there would be no great architecture to celebrate. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the science and engineering that makes one building better than another,鈥� he says, before embarking on a characteristically cultural metaphor. 鈥淭he architect is the conductor, but you have a trumpeter who鈥檚 one of the best in the world and is actually making it so special. But it鈥檚 the conductor who gets the applause. It鈥檚 the nature of the business.鈥�