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Felix candela rib roof1/14/2024 This guidance Isler ultimately expressed through his own designs, in which he balanced the aesthetics of his shells against their structural efficiency. and believed this to be one of the greatest influences on his professional development. Isler enthusiastically acknowledged Lardy’s encouragement “… to find and apply esthetics from within us”. “(a) that we have in us a sense for esthetics, (b) that we have the right to use it, (c) that we are allowed to mention our opinion, (d) and that we can find and express it in our projects” (Billington 2003: 132). Nevertheless, he carried his aesthetic sensitivity into his future shell designs, fully justifying the designation “structural artist” (Billington 2003). The project he was employed to realise, a shell roof at the Hotel Kreuz, Langenthal, diverted him irrevocably from his original course. After graduation Isler worked as Lardy’s assistant until May 1953, when he took a job to fund art studies in Munich. Hence, after his national service, he enrolled to study civil engineering at the Eidgenössisiche Technische Hochschule (ETH) in Zürich, where his dissertation under the supervision of Pierre Lardy (1903–1958), was on thin reinforced concrete shells (Chilton 2000). However, his father insisted that he should study for a more secure profession. At school he had displayed a natural talent for sketching and painting (Fig. In contrast to the shell designers mentioned above, the Swiss engineer Heinz Isler (1926–2009) is remarkable in that he originally intended to follow a career as an artist. Torroja’s concern for the elegance of his structures is demonstrated by a chapter devoted to ‘The Beauty of Structures’ in his book Philosophy of Structures (Torroja 1958). These shells had simple geometries that could be calculated relatively easily by hand (the only method available at the time): a segment of a sphere, parallel extruded arches, and linked hyperbolic paraboloids. His works included: a 90 mm thick, 47.5 m diameter spherical domed shell for the Market Hall, Algeciras, Spain (1933) a 32.5 m span double barrel vault for the Frontón Recoletos, in Madrid (1935) and 13 m long cantilevered canopies, 60–145 mm thick, at the Zarzuela Hippodrome, Madrid (1935) (Fig. Eduardo Torroja y Miret (1899–1961)Įduardo Torroja y Miret was a Spanish engineer and pioneer of reinforced concrete thin shell construction. Such discerning shell designers include Eduardo Torroja y Miret (1899–1961), Pier Luigi Nervi (1891–1979), Félix Candela (1910–1997) and Heinz Isler (1926–2009). Possibly this is because the shell designer has aesthetic discernment to complement their engineering design skill, allowing them to fully exploit the formal possibilities of their chosen material. This raises the question: “who is the author of the design?” In some instances, the person responsible for the engineering design is more widely recognised than the project architect. Close collaboration between architect and engineer is essential to deliver an elegant and efficient form. The design of graceful shell structures requires a complex interaction of aesthetics, structure and mathematics. Designers should be encouraged to explore with various approaches. It is concluded that there are advantages and disadvantages to both physical and digital modelling methods. The Sicli Factory shell, 1968, is taken as a case study and is used to compare Isler’s design method with contemporary digital form-finding using the particle spring method. This raises the question “Who is the author of the design?” The design philosophy of recognised shell designers is introduced, specifically that of Swiss shell designer and “structural artist” Heinz Isler, who is considered to have had particular sensitivity to the aesthetics of his shells, rooted in his admiration of the natural world and derived by natural laws. They dominate the architectural expression, yet the three-dimensional form is generally determined by the engineer according to its structural efficiency, rather than by the architect according to aesthetical considerations. Reinforced concrete shells frequently constitute the most visible element of a building envelope.
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