Eduardo Torroja
| Eduardo Torroja | |
|---|---|
| Born | 27 August 1899 |
| Died | 15 June 1961 (aged 61) |
| Nationality | Spanish |
| Engineering career | |
| Projects | Tempul cable-stayed aqueduct |
| Significant advance | concrete-shell structures |
| Awards | Wilhelm Exner Medal, 1954 |
Eduardo Torroja y Miret, (27 August 1899 – 15 June 1961) was a Spanish structural engineer, a pioneer in the design of concrete shell structures.
In 1923 Torroja began work for the Hidrocivil company, headed by the engineer José Eugenio Ribera. He planned and directed various types of work including the foundations of bridge piers, bridges, water supply and sanitation works, and various urban buildings. Torroja's first large project was the Tempul cable-stayed aqueduct (1926) in Guadalete, Jerez de la Frontera, in which he used pre-stressed girders. In 1928 he established his own office.
Modesto López Otero, director for the Madrid University City (Ciudad Universitaria de Madrid) project, formed a diverse team of young architects to design the various buildings. Torroja joined the group in 1929. He worked with Manuel Sánchez Arcas, sharing his interest in new architectural forms that rejected preconceived formulas. The first collaborative work of Torroja and Sanchez Arcas was the pavilion of the Construction Commission of the university city, completed in June 1931. They worked on the heating plant (Central Térmica) and the clinical hospital for the university city.
Sánchez Arcas and Torroja designed an enclosed and semi-spherical shell for the 1932 Algeciras market hall. The 9 centimetres (3.5 in) thick concrete roof was 47.5 metres (156 ft) high, vaulted, supported on eight pillars. As an engineering work it is considered Torroja's masterpiece. Sánchez Arcas and Torroja founded the journal Hormigón y Acero (Concrete and Steel). In 1934 they founded the Instituto Técnico de la Construcción y Edificación (ITCE, Technical Institute of Construction and Building). Other founding members were the architect Modesto López Otero (1885–1962) and the engineers José María Aguirre Gonzalo (1897–1988) and Alfonso Peña Boeuf (1888–1966). The ITCE was a non-profit organization dedicated to developing and applying technical innovations in engineering civil structures.
...
Wikipedia