David López

Dieste, González Zuleta and Sánchez del Río: Three approaches to reinforced-brick shell structures

Reinforced-brick shell structures are mainly known through the extraordinary work of the Uruguayan engineer Eladio Dieste. However, other remarkable examples of shells in reinforced masonry were being built during Dieste’s development of the technique or even before. The works by Guillermo González Zuleta in Colombia and Ildefonso Sánchez del Río in Spain deserve a closer look. Analysis of the three engineers’ backgrounds, writings and work reveals different original conceptions of the technique. The conceptual approach to the reinforced brick material and the way they approached challenges and obstacles are very different in the three cases, yet they finally achieved similar structural solutions. This document presents a review of historical reinforced masonry architectural examples by these three master builders. The paper analyses their roles in the development of this technique and presents some of their most influential or striking architectural pieces.

The combination of tile vaults with reinforcement and concrete

ABSTRACT Tile vaults are unreinforced masonry structures made of thin bricks (tiles) and fast-setting mortar that can be constructed needing only formwork along their boundaries, making them inherently economic. Their slenderness and finishing make them also efficient and expressive. These qualities of tile vaulting can be enhanced by combining it with concrete and/or reinforcement. A top layer of concrete reduces time and labour, whereas reinforcement can reduce the thickness, allows the construction in seismic areas and opens the formal possibilities of tile-vaulted construction beyond compression only. A few architects and engineers, such as Guastavino, Gaudí, Le Corbusier, and Torroja, among others, envisioned some of these qualities and used these combinations in their buildings. This article reviews the unique examples of tile vaulting combined with concrete and/or reinforcement in the past, showing their successful results and giving an overview of how their authors faced the structural analysis and design.