Parroquia San Jose Obrero, Sketch#2

About this blog...

This blog for the time being will serve as an academic output to test my abilities to publish my works and share them on the web, even though it seems I am asked to publish my personal information, I refuse to, since I have and always will, swim through the deeps f the internet with anonymity.

Another aspect about this blog is that it will be centered on a principal character, this being Felix Candela, a famed 20th century Spanish architect, and his works and one of them which will serve as a project I am tasked to recreate in real life through 3D modeligh software.

With nothing else in mind, my main task is to accomplish an academic purpose keeping it as personal as I can.

The father of thin concrete shells

Felix Candela Outeriño was a Spanish architect renowned for this structural designs, which controversially, architects don't consider as pure architecture and engineers dot consider his works as pure math either, but a half and a half mix of both worlds.

He was born in Madrid in 1910 and studied architecture in the Escuela Superior de la Arquitectura in the same city, during his studies he became aware of his interest for geometry and the resistance of structures unlike most of architecture students that seek a more aesthetic view if things.

 His studies continued after his graduation in 1935 but quickly ended with the eruption of the Spanish Civil War in which he fought for the side of the Spanish Republic. After the war, since he had fought against Francisco Franco, he couldn't return to Spain and was released along with more prisoners in a boat towards Mexico where he would lead a whole architectural movement that would gain him world wide fame.

After his arrival in Mexico, he started to focus more deeply in structural engineering given his knowledge on thin reinforced concrete, knowledge that would serve him well as most of his projects occurred in a relatively short period of time for the amount of buildings. 
His main client was the mexican goverment, Adolfo Ruiz Cortines said "Nothing could be more serious than to sit in the shade of the buildings we are about to build."
After this period, for most of the rest of his career he became a professor and would eventually reside in the United States to help him recover from so many years of stress that usually complain these type of professions.

Some of his more important works:

L'Oceanografic - City if Arts and Sciences 

Pabellon de los Rayos Cosmicos

Palacio de los Deportes

Restaurante Los Manantiales

As a bonus, here is an article of the Princeton University Art Museum in which Dorothy Candela relates a much  more personal image of who was Felix Candela.

Parroquia San Jose Obrero conceptual model

Made with white clay and acrylic panel

Parroquia San Jose Obrero

Some important facts about this building:

• Built in 1959 in Monterrey, Nuevo Leòn, Mèxico
• Designed by architect Felix Candela with Enrique de la Mora y Palomar and Fernando Lopez Carmona.
• Modernism.
• Works as a parish.
• Roof has a max thickness of 4 cm.
• The overall shape is inspired on a nun veil.

Site View:

Exterior:

A glimpse of the interior:

An earlier design had a simple and a bit smaller cross centered in front of the entrance and pale blue paint:

During construction in 1959:

Parroquia San Jose Obrero Sketch #1

HB, 4B, digitalized with CamScanner

Mikimoto Ginza 2

                                                                            Conceptual Model