Candela, Felix (1910–1997)

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From an early fascination with mathematics and structural shell construction, Felix Candela designed many innovative buildings, primarily in Mexico. He received an engineering education at the Escuela Superior de Arquitectura in the city of his birth, Madrid (1927–1935). As a result of his military service he emigrated to Mexico as a refugee. Newly settled in Mexico, Candela teamed with his brother Antonio to start the construction company Cubiertas Ala. The Cosmic Ray Pavilion for the University City, Mexico City (1952), provided one of his first opportunities to experiment with shell construction. This building gave him international attention and other projects followed such as the Church of San Antonio de las Huertas, Mexico City (1956), and the ‘umbrella’ structures used in warehouses. In 1971, he emigrated to the United States and he continued to provide services as a structural and construction consultant, architect, and university professor in Mexico and the United States until his death in 1997 (Smith, 1967; Van Vynckt, 1993).

Depending on intuition and experimentation balanced with calculation, Candela, although often an architectural consultant, was able to influence design through the requirements of the structure. His attitude emphasized economic and material efficiency, and the inherent strength of concrete reinforced with steel mesh. Many of his shell structures were remarkably thin where he was able to find strength in such shapes as warped hyperbolic paraboloids (Smith, 1967; Van Vynckt, 1993). The graceful shapes were particularly appropriate for ecclesiastical architecture, and he collaborated on projects such as the Church of San Josè Obrero in Monterrey (1959) and the Chapel of San Vicente de
Paul, Coyoacan (1960).

This sketch is a study of a concrete shell structure. It was sketched on tracing paper, first outlined with pencil guidelines and then reinforced with a felt pen. The left side of the sketch has more guidelines and appears more controlled. The right contains fewer pencil lines and more corrections occur with the ink lines. This may stem from his eagerness to see the whole impression quickly, before he constructed all the guidelines. Or perhaps he was impatient to view the whole and, having understood its shape, could quickly finish the right half less carefully (particularly true if Candela was right handed).

With brief guidelines to follow, the sketch shows firm, definitive lines. Most of them have been rendered as a single mark, but a few have been corrected to refine an angle. With the shape mind one could speculate that he was concerned with the look of the entire shape since he used an elevation view. He may have needed to comprehend its totality, because it had been studied previously in diagrams. Because of his extensive experience with concrete shell structures, he may have intuitively understood the structure once it emerged on the page.

Candela’s primary concerns are revealed in what he sketched and what he left out. The dimensions of the folded plates were important as he tried to show depth through shadows. He was obviously concerned with the structure over contextual issues, since the sketch sits alone on the page. One may speculate that the building was either a prototype, or that he was comfortable in allowing the primary architect to be worried about the concerns of the site and program.

This sketch may have been used to comprehend proportions. Candela may have needed to view the folds in relationship to the height and angles of the incline. He was also studying the contrasting texture of materials. Most likely, he was anticipating glass on the inside of the peaked arches because these areas have been rendered differently than the concrete.

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