![]() The exhibition documents fourteen of his gravity-defying concrete shells, including the Pavilion of Cosmic Rays at UNAM in Mexico City (1951) the Chapel Lomas in the outskirts of Cuernavaca (1958) Los Manantiales Restaurant in Xochimilco, Mexico City (1958) and the Palace of Sports for the Olympic Games in Mexico City (1968). He argued that in architecture, “Form cannot be arbitrary rather, it must satisfy an innumerable series of requirements … the two that I consider most important in the elaboration of architectural form : the aesthetic factor and the structural factor.” Working not only as an architect, but also as a builder and a contractor, Candela recognized the great importance of structural efficiency, and his experiments pushed architecture’s formal and material limits. Candela saw aesthetic implications as inseparable from engineering concerns. In addition to structural advancements, these curved and cantilevered forms brought new textural and atmospheric qualities to the social and communal spaces they shelter. Through architectural models, plans, and photographs of construction sites, Félix Candela’s Concrete Shells tracks the evolution of his designs and emphasizes their ingenuity. His designs evolved as feats of architectural engineering, using hyperbolic paraboloid geometry. In the 1950s, Candela debuted his experimental signature shell structures by designing a continuous curved surface of minimal thickness. ![]() The exhibition sheds light on his visionary work through photographs, architectural models, plans, and videos, as well as his time as a professor at the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) from 1971–1978.īorn in Spain and exiled to Mexico at the end of the Spanish Civil War in 1939, Candela spent thirty years in Mexico, where he established his career as an architect. This site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on Novemin the Cultural category.Félix Candela’s Concrete Shells: An Engineered Architecture for Mexico and Chicago roots Félix Candela (1910–1997) as one of the most prolific architects of the 20th century in his designs with advanced geometries and lasting influence in contemporary architecture. The three domes of the plant were built at the same time and to save costs Candela appealed hyperbolic parabolic form as it allows the use of a straight formwork.Īlthough tensions in the shells are small and the steel reinforcement was not necessary, it was used for constructive reasons, to hold wet concrete in place on steep surfaces and to address other practical issues such as the effects of temperature changes. Similarly, the frames of the reinforcing ribs of the skylights are fixed to the arches that surround them. The arches are located directly on the glass walls to ensure that in case of unexpected wind loads of the shell is sufficiently rigid as to not allow the movement of the crystals. Additionally placed reinforcements on the edges which allows the thickness of the shell is expressed fully. Regarded as one the greatest Spanish-born architects of the 20th century, Candela is celebrated. Steel loops to connect the foundation can withstand the horizontal forces, these braces are completely hidden from view.Ĭandela used V-beam in all its vaults. Wallach Art Gallery's first exhibition in 2012 offers American audiences, for the first time, a comprehensive look at the architectural career of 'the wizard of concrete shells'Flix Candela. Four skylights fill the gaps between adjacent tanks and end of squaring the structure but do not provide sufficient support for the shell of roofs.īacardi shells are not in direct contact with the foundation, each of the four corners is supported by a leg that transfers the loads from the vaults to the foundation, which in turn download the weight vertically on the ground. It summarizes basics of Candela work in the light of historical and tech. ![]() The original cover of the bottler was composed of three vaults hypars, adjacent edges of 4 cm thick and 2.50 m roof blown from the sides. The present paper reports some aspects of an interdisciplinary research that is intended to explore Candela’s philosophy. Originally constructed between 19, Felix Candela and Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe designed the corporate office building, bottling plant and ageing cellars of Bacardi & Co. ![]()
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