Felix Candela

Madrid-born and -educated naturalized American architect. He was influenced by the structures of Torroja, and developed a lifelong interest in shell-vaulting. He emigrated to Mexico in 1939, where he formed the firm of Cubiertas Ala with his brother Antonio. His advocacy of shell-vaults brought him commissions, including the Cosmic-Ray Pavilion, University City, Mexico City (1951–2), with its hyperbolic paraboloid concrete roof, much of which is only 15 mm thick, set on legs. His Church of the Miraculous Virgin, Mexico City (1953–5), with Enrique de la Mora y Palomar (1907–78), is Expressionist in style, also influenced by Gothic and by the work of Gaudí. He again worked with Mora on the chapel of San Vicente de Paul, Coyoacán, Mexico City (1960), which has an inverted U-shaped canopy set on rubble walls. He used mushroom-shaped umbrella-like forms at the John Lewis warehouse, Stevenage, Herts. (1963), designed with Yorke, Rosenberg, & Mardall. He was also involved in the design of the Olympic Stadium, Mexico City (1968).

Bibliography

• Kalman (1994)
• C. Faber (1963)
• Henn (ed.) (1992)
• Segui Bonaventura (1994)
• Smith (1967)
• Starczewski (1992)
• Tonda (2000)

The full bibliography for this book is available to download as a pdf file.
Download the bibliography for A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (PDF: 1.2MB)