Candela’s major contribution to architecture was the development of thin shells made out of reinforced concrete, popularly known as cascarones. After his father’s friend, an architect, discussed the profession with Candela, he decided to try out architecture “despite that I had not shown great ability for drawing, which was … Felix Candela, an architect by training but an engineer and a sculptor by choice. He used various permutations and combinations with his hypars and designed many forms like an umbrella, or a folded hypar, or intersecting hypars, etc. Text imported from Wikipedia article "Félix_Candela" and modified on 22 July 2019 under the CC-BY-SA 3.0 license. The devotee standing at the entrance has an unobstructed view of the altar, and above him lies a smoothly curved roof figurative with an Umbrella of the God. Around 1950 when Candela's company went to design laminar structures, he started researching journals and engineering articles for as much information as he could find. The Bacardi Rum Factory is another amazing architectural experiment of Candela. It is sited next to the beach, and it had to be designed enveloped between the sea, the rocks, and the green wilderness. It is an oceanarium with many beautifully designed buildings, out of which, the entrance building and the underwater restaurant was designed by Candela. via www.rkett.com. Built-in 1958, in cohesion with two other architects, this remains one of Candela’s most precarious structural experiments. Initially, the factory had three groin vaults, later it was expanded to six groin vaults. She believes that imagination creates architecture, thus loves to dance and watch movies to nurture it. International Database and Gallery of Structures, Parque Oceanográfico Universal, Valencia. Well, let’s round-up with some jazz! Candela was elated to design a religious building because he believed that a religious building has a defined purpose and a single floor, where the structure will always play the titular role. He went on to design more than 300 shells in his time. These groin vaults are formed by two intersected hyperbolic paraboloids, and then this module was placed next to each other to form a grid of 3 columns and 2 rows. This church resonates with the wings of the bird ready to take a flight. What is/was the topic of your dissertation? It also contains one of the largest dolphinariums in the world with a depth of 10.5 meters. To read the stories behind other celebrated architecture projects, visit our AD Classics section.. With the design for Los Manantiales, Felix Candela… and why he is rightly branded as the magician of structural expressions. This Church is located in Madrid and is another beautiful example of structural engineering by Candela. His most ambitious form, “umbrella”, which was used where large areas had to be covered, is a group of four straight-edged hypars supported by a sleek column that transfers the load to an inverted footing. The dining room was built by combining five paraboloid sections and the auditorium had a single hyperbolic paraboloid roof over the existing roof of the dining area. The bungalows were made by grouping four straight hypars that formed an “umbrella”, held by a single column at their center. Candela introduced three supports to hold the RCC structure and corrugated RCC walls to the front and back of the shell. Unlike many of his peers, Candela didn’t show intellectual or aesthetic efforts in school. Felix Candela was born in Madrid, Spain in 1910. This one has a roof made with the combination of folded hypars. The beauty of the temple lies in its interiors, the stained skylights, and the beautiful murals that should be lauded for the same. Candela introduced three supports to hold the RCC structure and. Felix Candela’s Concrete Shells: An Engineered Architecture for Mexico and Chicago at UIC Courtesy Alexander Eisenschmidt “He was an architect, engineer, and contractor in the ‘40, ‘50s, and ‘60s, which enabled him to design and work on hundreds of projects… Structurae Version 7.0 - © 1998-2020 Nicolas Janberg. His following works will take you through his journey from simple forms to complex geometries and why he is rightly branded as the magician of structural expressions. Hardened félix candela projects take its proper form were glass infills in between them is filled by stainless glass that... Candela did most of his career and the dancing stage also contains one of the dolphinariums... Them is filled by stainless glass windows that bring in the City of Arts and Sciences complex designed Santiago. Is subject to change and is another amazing architectural experiment of Candela University Illinois! 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