Félix Candela. The Achievement of Slenderness

Abstract

In the international context prevailing in the nineteen fifties and sixties, Candela?s renown was based on the construction of over 800 thin concrete shells whose rational and optimal structural form is wholly compatible with striking sculptural beauty. Candela mastered the slenderness of form in an age when reinforced concrete was still evolving, when generating new architectural shells with this material was, indeed, an ?adventure? and as such, devoid of any manner of official support. For that reason, at each specific place and time, its actors were obliged to sharpen their ingenuity to be able to build new shells.