CENTENNIAL HALL
- Location: Wrocław
- Construction period: 1911 – 1913
- Author: Max Berg
BUILDING DESCRIPTION
Centennial Hall was designed by Max Berg, an architect and constructor. The structure was erected between 1911 and 1913, and its interiors held Centennial Exhibition to commemorate 100th anniversary of Napoleon’s defeat at Leipzig. The facility was erected in the grounds of Szczytnicki Park, in the place of a former horse racecourse. Centennial Hall was built with the use of reinforced concrete technology. The dome of the Hall spans 65 m, the building is 42 m high and it can hold 10 000 people. The main hall is surrounded by the corridors. Multi-purpose space, untypical structure, unique and spacious location represent just a few of its advangates. Centennial Hall complex currently is one of the most desired venues among domestic and foreign organizers of exhibitions, conferences, cultural, sport and congress event. In 2006 Centennial Hall became a part of UNESCO World Heritage List.

AUTHOR
Max Berg (1870 – 1947) graduated from Technical University in Charlottenburg (Berlin) in 1893. After the studies he worked in Frankfurt am Main as a building inspector. From 1909 until 1925 he was Wrocław’s city architect. Max Berg designed many buildings in Wrocław, such as Centennial Hall, the public baths, the hydroelectric power stations, the modernist chapel, etc. In 1925 Max Berg moved to Berlin. He gave up his architectural career and dedicated the rest of his life to the study of Christian mysticism. During the World War II he moved to Baden Baden where he died.
CURIOSITIES
Centennial Hall was erected in just 14 months. Two towers moving along tracks encircling the building enabled to work very fast. Connected by means of ropes with the top of the building constructed, electrically powered towers formed a carousel cable raising above the scaffolding, capable of carrying loads up to 2500 kg. For the Centennial Hall’s construction, the top quality materials were used. Special cement was used to prepare concrete and was supplied by the Silesia Cement Plant in Opole. The final material was tested including restrictive conditions. Based on the result of steel resistance test, high-grade rolled steel was selected. In the sections exposed to large stress, the highest quality Strzegom granite was used. Iron wood for windows was imported from Australia. At the time of its construction completion, the Centennial Hall’s dome was the largest structure of this type in the world and it even outshone the Roman Pantheon. Max Berg, in order to highlight “truth of the material”, decided to reject decorations and ornaments. The only sculpture was located above the main entrance. It was created by Alfred Vocke and represented Archangel Michael as a warrior saint slaying a dragon. The sculpture was destroyed during the World War II.

CURRENT STATE OF THE BUILDING
Centennial Hall was locally damaged during the World War II. In 1946 the process of repairing began and involved repairing damaged terrace roof of the dome, damaged pillars of the dome’s drum, replacement of window glazing and repairing window frames. From 1996 to 1997 the interior of the Centennial Hall was modernized. Works included the main hall under the dome, the main entrance hall, foyer and the roof of the building. In 2009 the façade, window frames and roofing were under renovation process. The dome’s lower ring was strengthenged using prestressed cables. In 2011 the interior was modernized again. The project involved works in the main hall, the foyer and the Imperial Hall. The overhauls and conservation work carried in 2009 – 2011 were aimed at preserving the authenticity of originally used materials using technologies consistent with their historic character. Current state of the Centennial Hall is good and confirmed by the technical inspection.
WHY INNOVACONRETE HAS CHOSEN THIS MONUMENT?
InnovaConcrete has chosen monuments to cover a wide range of societal/economic impacts. Centennial Hall is significant monuments with a significant number of visitors per year. The Hall was chosen as an outstanding example of early Modernism and the innovative use of reinforced concrete structures in the building industry. Centennial Hall is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. UNESCO described this monument as “a landmark in the history of reinforced concrete architecture”.
For more info about Centennial Hall, visit the website: halastulecia.pl/en/
Credits: halastulecia.pl/en/
MONUMENT BUILDING DESCRIPTION
The monumental work was built opposite the sea as a point for encounter scanning the horizon which for the artist symbolized “the homeland of all men”. It brings together Chillida’s preoccupations about scale, the relationship between nature, space and the void. It is an open work, an accessible space turned into a place to invite one to look, to contemplate infinity by delving into the unknown. The problem of size was crucial in his work. Each work acquires specific properties according to its dimension and is determined by its relational properties. Elogio del Horizonte (In Praise of the Horizon) puts the beholder in direct relationship with the work and the cosmos.

“Would not the present be like the horizon, another frontier, another limit, another place without dimension always full of questions? These and other questions mean that with my work I am seeking in nature and in its laws everything that despite being clear is difficult or impossible to reach.”
AUTHOR:
Eduardo Chillida was born on the 10th January 1924 in San Sebastian. In 1943 he went to Madrid to study Architecture, but in 1947 he decided to give up his university studies to go to the Círculo de Bellas Artes [Fine Arts Circle] to take up drawing. The following year, he went off to Paris where he took up sculpture and exhibited a work at the Salon de Mayo. In 1951, after his marriage to Pilar Belzunce the previous year, he set himself up in Hernani where he discovered iron and produced Ilarik, his first work in this material. Three years later he had his first solo exhibition in Madrid at the Galería Clan and started doing public art works when he fitted the doors to the Basilica of Aranzazu. In 1958 he received the International Award for Sculpture at the 29th Venice Biennale, a door for receiving many other awards throughout his life, from the Biennale prize to the Kandinsky prize in 1960, from the Wilhelm Lehmbruck in 1966 to the German Kaissering in 1985, from the Prince of Asturias in 1987 to the Imperial Award of Japan in 1991. His work is present in over 20 museums worldwide and exhibitions have been held in different cities like Berlin, London or New York.The year 2000 saw the official opening of the Chillida-Leku Museum, where most of his work is located today in an ongoing dialogue with nature.
Eduardo Chillida died on 19 August 2002 in San Sebastian before seeing the completion of his great dream, the Tindaya project, a public work right in the heart of the mountains.

Elogio del horizonte (In Praise of the Horizon)
- 1989
- Concrete
- 1000 x 1250 x 1550 cm
- Cerro de Santa Catalina
- Gijón
For more info about Eduardo Chillida’s sculpures, visit the website: museochillidaleku.com
Pictures: © Zabalaga-Leku, VEGAP 2018, Gijón. Courtesy of the State of Eduardo Chillida. Picture: XXX
EDUARDO TORROJA INSTITUTE FOR CONSTRUCTION SCIENCES
In order to improve the construction techniques Eduardo Torroja founded, with a renowned group of architects and engineers, the company ICON (research in construction). From this organization the Technical Institute of Construction was born in 1934 (now Eduardo Torroja Institute for Construction Sciences), the first private sector organisation created in Spain to steer, further and publish research on construction and related areas to foster progress, promoting the use of concrete and cement, unthinkable structures in those days.
In 1951 they decided to construct their own building with workshops for the creation of models and equipment, with facilities to test these models (even on life-sized), equipped with study and training rooms, general services, a library; as well as a pilot plant for manufacturing cements and for semi-industrial scale testings of this product. These spaces were designed to innovate and to detect problems for the cement and concrete industry of those days.
The research was developed in two closely related fields: on the one hand, the theoretical study of problems and, on the other, trials and the experience to solve them. In the first case, the subject is the man; in the second, the machine. This challenge required two different typologies with two different scales: laboratory-scale of human-scale type, and testing facilities, on a much larger scale.
For this purpose, a modern-functional style building, designed by the architects G. Echegaray and M. Barbero, is conceived. Singular shaped concrete elements, precast concrete pieces and other structural reinforced concrete models were tested and used.

EDUARDO TORROJA AND HIS WORK
Eduardo Torroja Miret (1899-1961) was one of the most prominent international proponents of the history of progress attained in civil construction and architecture in the golden decades of Modernism. He played a major role in the scientific and technical revolution that preluded the brisk development of reinforced and pre-stressed concrete in the first half of the twentieth century and the concomitant evolution in the construction industry, structural typologies and the new aesthetics championed by Modernism. He was internationally acclaimed not only for his innovative works, but also for his many-faceted professional activity: designer, scientist, researcher, manager and teacher.
He is the author of iconic works such as the Thermal Power Plant of the University of Madrid (1932, National Prize of Architecture in 1932), the market of Algeciras (1933, declared cultural heritage by the Junta de Andalucía in 2001, best example of the Modern Movement in the region), Frontón Recoletos in Madrid (1935, disappeared) or the Zarzuela Racecourse in Madrid (1931, declared a Spanish historic- artistic monument in 1980).
Market in Algeciras

Frontón Recoletos

Zarzuela Racecourse in Madrid

An overview of Eduardo Torroja’s works can be found in a special issue of the journal Informes de la Construcción published by the Eduardo Torroja Institute:
Vol 14, Nº 137 (1962)
(link: http://informesdelaconstruccion.revistas.csic.es/index.php/informesdelaconstruccion/issue/view/444)
SOCIAL/ECONOMIC IMPACT
Currently, the Eduardo Torroja building is in use as a research institute for construction sciences.
This building constitutes a landmark of industrial and research architecture in concrete, both nationally and internationally, and was a model of interdisciplinary collaboration between architecture and engineering. For this reason, several annual visits are organized for professional associations and architecture and engineering university students (http://www.ietcc.csic.es).
The building is protected by the city of Madrid, due to its singular concrete structure, model of the 20th century architecture.
Additionally, this work appears in the DOCOMOMO database, in order to achieve the recognition as part of the 20th century culture and heritage protection and conservation (http://www.docomomoiberico.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=176:instituto-de-ciencias-de-la-construccion-eduardo-torroja&lang=en)
Dissemination:
About the works of Eduardo Torroja: TRILOGÍA “EL DESPERTAR DEL HORMIGÓN” EPISODIO II: EDUARDO TORROJA Primera parte: Los años hasta la Guerra Civil (1899-1936)
https://twitter.com/johnygrey/status/993219901551775744
Curiously, the shape of the building resembles the Greek letter PI, as it was published on march 14th, the PiDay: https://twitter.com/IETorroja/status/973822852431532032
CONSTRUCTIVE PARTICULARITIES
In order to systematically organize the works, simplify the monitoring and economize the specialized labour, constructive systems, typical of this Institute, were tested. For this purpose, concrete elements were preferably used, especially precast concrete pieces according to units of 1.60 m, in order to standardise the construction method.
Ground floor. Principal building

Cross section. Principal building

The most interesting concrete elements developed in the building construction were:
- Flooring pieces
- Window frames
- Gargoyles




Also, other singular elements in concrete that can be found in the building are:
- Coal tank and chimney
- Pergolas
- Singular structures




More information of any of these elements can be found in this document: CLICK HERE>>
More detailed information can also be found in the following papers and issues in the journal Informes de la Construcción:
- Building Inauguration: Costillares. Instituto Técnico de la Construcción y del Cemento
Informes de la Construcción, Vol 10, Nº 099 (1958)
- Special issue about the Building
Informes de la Construcción, Vol 51, No 462 (1999)
(link: http://informesdelaconstruccion.revistas.csic.es/index.php/informesdelaconstruccion/issue/view/94)
- Papers on the Elephant trunk shaped concrete slab:
– Morfogénesis de una lámina, España
Informes de la Construcción, Vol 22, No 214 (1969)
– La costilla laminar del Instituto de Ciencias de la Construcción Eduardo Torroja (IETcc-CSIC). Levantamiento mediante láser-escáner y evaluación estructural
Informes de la Construcción, Vol 66, No 536 (2014)
WARSAW TRAIN STATION
- Location: Warsaw- Ochota; Warsaw- Powisle
- Date: 1954-1955 (concept); 1960-1962 (final project); 1962-1963 (construction)
- Architecture: Arseniusz Romanowicz, Piotr Szymaniak
- Construction: Wieslaw Bronowski, Wlodzimierz Brzozowski, Mieczyslaw Golab, Henryk Wolski
- Consultants: Ludomir Suwalski, Waclaw Zalewski

BUILDING DESCRIPTION
The railway stations in Warsaw were designed by architects Arseniusz Romanowicz and Piotr Szymaniak in 1954-1955 as a part of the Warsaw Cross-City Line for the regional trains. Nevertheless, the works did not start until 1962. Such a long break was caused mostly by political reasons. Finally, the buildings were completed in 1963.
Each of the station buildings was given a different form, which was a direct result of structural systems applied. Architect and engineers decided that they would search for a construction system which would suit the station’s functional needs. They have chosen the structures of reinforced concrete thin-shells. All the station buildings are designed according to one scheme. Each pavilion consists of relatively small waiting room and ticket office set in one open space. Fully glazed curtain walls provided interior with daylight. Buildings are covered with reinforced concrete thin-shell roof of different shapes.
The Ochota railway station building’s roof is designed as a hyperbolic paraboloid. The shape was a result of the search for a roof shape, that would allow to cover both- pavilion and asymmetrically placed stairs leading to the platforms.
The upper pavilion of Powisle railway station’s roof has the shape of double conoid. It supports the natural drainage and lighting of the interior (both artificial and natural), due to the fact that convex surface of the white ceiling reflects light.
The lower pavilion’s roof is an inverted canopy. It contrasts with the form of a nearby viaduct. At the same time, its shape allowed to use only one vertical supporting structure in the middle and therefore arrange a kiosk around it.
The diverse, dynamic forms of the stations were supposed to differ from the static urban development. Architects wanted them to become landmarks. At the same time they were perceived as a display of capabilities of modern architecture in communist Poland.
AUTHOR
Architect Arseniusz Romanowicz (1910-2008) graduated from the Faculty of Architecture at Warsaw University of Technology in 1938. From 1938-1939 he was an employee in architectural office working on the project of Warsaw Central Station. During the World War II he continued works concerning the station as an employee of Ostbahndirekzion. As the station was destroyed during the Warsaw Uprising, after the war Romanowicz started to develop the idea of new central station and the network of smaller stations of Warsaw Cross-City Railway. At the university he met Piotr Szymaniak (1911-1967), who became his lifetime associate.Together, they took part in numerous architectural competitions and designed many buildings in Warsaw.
CURIOSITIES
-The reinforced concrete thin-shell structures of the stations’ roofs are 8 centimeters thick.
– The visual aspects of the stations were not the onlyconcern for the architects. The 8 centimeter thick, thin-shell roof made of reinforced concrete, did not require neither massive vertical supporting structure nor load bearing walls. The stations were created as extremely light structures which appeared to “levitate” over the glazed walls.
-The Warsaw Train Station were one of the first examples of thin-shell structures in public-use buildings in post-war Poland.
– Arseniusz Romanowicz and Piotr Szymaniak designer also train stations Warsaw-Stadium, Warsaw-Srodmiescie (both based on the koncept of concrete thin-shell structures) and, later, the Warsaw Central Station.
– The consultant in terms of construction was Waclaw Zalewski, considerer the greatest structural engineer in post-war Poland. He was one of the pioneers of the techniques of linear – rod on the principle of tensegrity structures in light canopies without the use of load-bearing supporting structure (columns).


CURRENT STATE OF THE BUILDING
– Ochota Train Station and Upper pavilion of Powisle Train Station were restored in 2008. The cracks of the concrete were repaired and the coating of the roof was renewed. New plaster and a layer of thermal insulation was applied as well. However, there was no deep research on the state of constructions.
– Lower pavilion of Powisle Train Station was adapter for the cafeteria/bar in 2008. The scope of work was limited. The thin-shell roof of the pavilion was painted on the bottom side, while new layer of the bitominous waterproofing was addend on the top.
At this moment there are visible, small cracks on the surface of the concrete structure- mostly at the edge of the canopy.
– Srodmiescie Train Station, which is a reinforced concrete thin-shell canopy, has not been restored for years. There are cracks on the surface of the concrete structure- mostly at the edge of the canopy and near the supporting points.
WHY INNOVACONCRETE HAS CHOSEN THIS MONUMENT?
Avant-garde modernist constructions were typical for the architecture after 1956 in communist Poland as well as other Eastern and CentralEuropean countries. From 1956 authorities were condemning the errors and distortions of social realism, and encouraging architects to return to the ideas of the avant-garde. At the same time, along with the rejection of socialist realism in architecture, came the end of the period of ideological struggle. As art historian Piotr Piotrowski rightly noted, communists that were building the “second Poland” didn’t need socialist realist propaganda, but modern art that would not affect the status quo”. Apparently, ideologicallyneutral modernism became a tool perpetuating the determined political and social order. Communist authorities noticed the propaganda potential of prestigious modernist buildings.
Reinforced concrete thin-shell structures were perceived as a definite proof of technological development of socialist countries. Due to their avant-garde forms which seemed to deny the gravity, they became landmarks in many cities in Central and Eastern Europe. They were not only functional and aesthetically sophisticated, but at the same time they were the symbols of ambitious aspirations of the developing countries.
Thin-shell reinforced concrete structures of train stations in Warsaw are representatives for the wide range of similar objects raised in other communist countries: e.g. Dubulti Station in Riga (Latvia) or Predeal Station and Olanesti Station (Romania).
Torricella Peligna is a small Town in the province of Chieti in the Abruzzo region – Italy, located at about 1000 metres above the sea level.
During the Second World War, this town was included in the “Gustav Line” area, a defensive line that divided Italy in two parts by using the natural obstacles aimed to delay the advance of Alliance force.
After the great slaughter of innocents, the citizens of Torricella Peligna built two monuments – The Angel and The Tower – in order to commemorate and don’t forget the fallen of both the World Wars.


THE ANGEL
The monument named “the Angel” is impressive and majestic and it was dedicated to the fallen of the First World War. This War Memorial is located at the centre of the Remembrance park, on the top of a hill close to the the Historic Town. The monument at the central and highest position acts as the organizing element of the park, with majestic and imposing dimensions.
Standing on steps in travertine with a quadrangular base with four littori bundles at the corners and surmounted by an obelisk, it recalls the names of the heroes of Torricella during the Wars.
The Angel sculpture in concrete is placed against the obelisk at the frontal side, looking towards the town.
The figure, with female features in classical style, has hair that is worn tied back from the face and a wreath of laurel leaves. A strong sense of power is associated to the kindness of the winged figure , represented while is writing in a golden book the names of the fallen and at the same time is squashing with hers left foot a big eagle, a symbol of the the Hapsburg empire, which in the meantime is struggling to get free.
The monument is a work of N. Lucci from Pennadomo, built in 1922, the inauguration was in the same year with the participation of political and other relevant personalities as well as common citizens.
The celebration was a moment of popular aggregation and still today the monument recalls the sacrifice of local people during the World Wars.
After a few years, the monument was damaged by a hurricane and then was also bombarded during the Second War World.
A reconstruction intervention was carried out in the early 50s, involving the local administration committees for to remember always the horrors of Wars and the human sacrifice.
THE TOWER
The Tower is located at the highest point of the town, a position chosen with great symbolic significance, because different buildings that were present in this square were completely destroyed during the War due to the violent bombing.
The Tower War Memorial was designed in the 1950 by Walter Sibona to commemorate the 120 civilian victims who fell during the Second World War. In the original project, the monument was initially six metres taller than the current one.
For the construction of this monument, a city committee was formed to raise funds, as for the Angel monument. The poor possibilities prevented the construction of the monument in all its high and it was be built six meters lower than the original project.
The Tower is about 20 meters high, its base is in chiselled stone, surrounded by an iron railing worked with depictions of the coat of arms of the village of Torricella Peligna. The monument is entirely of concrete and has the shape of a truncated pyramid with a square base.
The shape of this War Memorial is particularly original because it is similar to a lighthouse in its form. It has a highly symbolic meaning, because like the lighthouse, that illuminates during the night, with its light reminds the strage of the innocent and those who lost their lives in battle.
The interior is bordered by a series of walkable floor connected by stairs, which allow you to climb to the top, from where you can dominate the surrounding landscape in all its beauty.
Built and inaugurated in 1961, with great political interest and citizen aggregation.

Torricella has woken up in a blaze of flags, trophies. On the bell tower there is the tricolor flag and the walls are covered with posters. There are groups of Alpine soldiers on leave and veterans of the 2nd and 1st World War, of Torricella and in the neighbouring countries. In the afternoon the authorities invited to the event arrive: parliamentarians, civil and military authorities, representatives of the fighting associations. At 17:30pm the people is around the Tower and at 18:00pm the trumpet calls everyone to silence and you discover the tricolor cloth that covers the plaque with the names of victims, at the same time a lamp was lit and bombs burst with the cries and wails of the parents of the victims, while the parish priest blesses the monument and the people
From the chronicles of the time: 1968 booklet “un paese d’Abruzzo, Torricella Peligna; unique number LA TORRE del 1961 published on the occasion of the inauguration of the monument.
THE SITE
The site consists of several buildings: old structure of the fort, memorial, museum, and administrative building.
OLD FORT
Ninth Fort of Kaunas was built in 1902-1913, as a part of the Kaunas fortress. The general plan of the whole Kaunas fortress complex was done by military officials of Russian army. The project of Ninth Fort was done in 1897 by engineer Konstantin Velička. At that time, the project of the Ninth Fort was innovative as all fortification rooms were concrete. The thickness of ceiling reached 1.5-2 m, and different parts of the fort had safe connections via underground galleries. The fort had electricity and forced air ventilation system in tactical purpose rooms.
In 1914, when the World War I started, the Ninth Fort remained practically undamaged during battles, and at the end of the summer of 1915, when Russian troops retreated, the fort and the whole fortress were occupied by the German army. In 1922-1924, the fort was transformed into a prison for heavy duty, and from 1941 to 1944 it was turned into a mass massacre place.
In the Ninth Fort, people were massively murdered from October 1941 to August 1944, when the Red Army of the Soviet Union occupied Lithuania. The October of 1941 was exceptional in the scope of mass murder: on October 4, 1,845 Jews and on October 29 – 9,200 Jews were killed. Before this, never in history such a large number of people in one day were killed in Lithuania. During mass murders, not only men, but also women, children, and old people were shot. In addition to locals, people from other European countries were imprisoned and killed in Kaunas Ninth Fort: Austria, Poland, France, the Soviet Union, and Germany. On the basis of provisional data, around 50,000 people were killed in the Ninth Fort during the Second World War.




NEW MUSEUM AND MONUMENT
The Fort museum was founded in 1958 after the reconstruction and restoration of the old fort. In 1975 the fort was restored again. In 1976-1984, the museum was substantially expanded in the territory with construction of a memorial complex (sculptor Alfonsas Ambraziūnas, architects Vytautas Vielius, Gediminas Baravykas, constructor Andrius Gavelis).
At that time the press presented the complex as an impetuous and ideologically important monument: “the entire memorial ensemble must speak about the struggle, the victory and the suffering of the people, those who died in the struggle for liberation.” The monument reflects the Soviet tradition of spectacular monuments. Architects of the memorial have been able to visit places of similar nature in Volgograd, Brest, Yerevan and other.
The first competition project was prepared in 1966. Sculptor A. Ambraziūnas has prepared this project together with architect V.Vielius. In the second round of the competition (1968), architect Gediminas Baravykas became involved in this project. And only after the third (1969) and the fourth round (1970), the final project was approved and proposed to be implemented. The official opening of the memorial ensemble took place in June 15th 1984. In 1985 the USSR State Prize was awarded to the sculptor A. Ambraziūnas and architect V. Vielius and G. Baravykas for the Kaunas IX Fort Memorial Complex.
CONSTRUCTION OF THE MONUMENT
Construction of the 32-meter-high monument took more than ten years. The process of constructing a sculptural composition was particularly difficult. As we can see in the letters from the sculptor A. Ambraziūnas to the Minister of Culture of Lithuanian SSR the first stage of the project was a provisional layout with the purpose to finalize size analysis. Later, the layout of the complex was completed at scale 1: 8. The design of the sculpture also involved the experimental casting of materials for the analysis of material and form. These works lasted for several years. The authorities responsible for design and construction blamed each other for inactivity.
The carcass of the sculptural composition consists of rigidly interconnected metal trusses. The construction of an exclusive object took place gradually, and not always in line with the original idea. Only after the construction began, it turned out that the increase in the part of the figures gives rise to a significant error of up to 20 centimeters. Separate lines and angles were rebuilt several times. In 1979, the sculptor wrote to the Ministry of Culture of Lithuanian SSR that due to construction errors “1/3 of all sculptural forms are being re-processed and materials were wasted”.
The construction of the complex was aimed at making the sculpture and architecture as integral aesthetic expression. From the architectural point of view, the complex features a sculptural composition of the museum, made up of individual blocks, which were composed as slabs of concrete after the explosion. The sloping parts of the building are covered with typical reinforced concrete paving slabs. Monolithic reinforced concrete is also openly displayed in the interior of the building. The interior space is decorated with stained glass (author Kazimieras Morkunas).
For more information visit websites:


Location: Madrid. Spain
Date: 1934-1941
Authors: Carlos Arniches Moltó and Martín Domínguez Esteban (architects), Eduardo Torroja Miret (engineer)
Property developer: Patrimonio Nacional (National Heritage) and Sociedad Española para el Fomento de la Cría Caballar
Construction: Agromán

BUILDING DESCRIPTION
The new racecourse in Madrid, that would replace the existing one in “Paseo de la Castellana” to facilitate the street extension, was located in “Monte del Pardo” (a National Park). The proposal was distinguished by taking advantage of the natural beauty of the site and the existing unevenness (in favor of aesthetic effects, visibility, circulations and amenity), and by achieving the unity of the architectural complex (through retaining walls and arcades, which serve as a connection between buildings). In the final solution, the vernacular is not renounced but with a formal refinement.


View of the arcades

View of the roof over the grandstand and the landscape
(Monte del Pardo)
When the Civil War broke out, the work was practically finished, and although it was the object of strong impacts because it was on the battlefront, it resisted. In 1940, only Eduardo Torroja completed and repaired the work, due to the absence of the two architects.
AUTHORS
Carlos Arniches Moltó (1895-1958) and Martín Domínguez Esteban (1897-1970) were Spanish architects and intellectuals of the “Generación del 25”, forerunners of the Modern Movement. They started working with Secundino Zuazo, in whose studio they contacted as partners and friends until the exile of Martín Domínguez in 1936. In the work of Carlos Arniches, simplicity and adaptation to the needs of the client are combined with the modern interpretation of the vernacular architecture, what he himself called “razonabilismo” (reasonableness). Aligned to other modern contemporaries, such as Pikionis, Kozma or Lino, he laid the foundations of Spanish Expressionism. Martín Domínguez was attracted by the ideas of Le Corbusier, presenting in his works the logical rationalism of Adolf Loos and the main priority for society and environment of Tony Garnier. With a technical, progressive and scientific personality, culture and tradition had an important role to play in modernity but far from academic rules. After his exile, he worked in Cuba and the United States, being professor at Cornell University and member of The American Institute of Architects.
Eduardo Torroja Miret (1899-1961) was one of the most prominent international proponents of the history of progress attained in civil construction and architecture in the golden decades of the Modern Movement. He played a major role in the scientific and technical revolution that preluded the brisk development of reinforced and pre-stressed concrete in the first half of the twentieth century and the concomitant evolution in the construction industry, structural typologies and the new aesthetics championed by the Modern Movement. He was internationally acclaimed not only for his innovative works, but also for his many-faceted professional activity: designer, scientist, researcher, manager and teacher.
THE GRANDSTAND: STRUCTURAL PARTICULARITIES
The winning solution of the 9 submitted proposals was awarded to the design of C. Arniches, M. Domínguez and E. Torroja for their original structural idea for grandstands and roof.
The structure is based on transverse reinforced concrete frames spaced every 5 m, joined by curved sheets protruding out the frames of the portal to form the cover of the large betting room. The central frames are rigidly joined to provide stability; the rest is joined to this central mass by a simple tie beam, which allows a free expansion of the whole.
The roofs are reinforced concrete sheets with hyperboloid shape of variable thickness, between 65 cm in the pillar area and 6 cm at the edges. Their structural system consists of a 5 m wide V-section module with curved edges, supported on a single central pillar and jutting about 13 m one of its ends balanced on its back part by steel tie beams.

9 submitted proposals

9 submitted proposals


CURRENT STATE AND SINGULARITY
The Zarzuela Racecourse is an example of Madrid Rationalism, considered to be the “last masterpiece of architecture in Spanish Republic times”.
After years of abandoned and in a high degree of deterioration, in 2009 it was declared “Bien de Interés Cultural” (national monument of heritage interest). In 2012, the restoration design won the First Prize of the “Colegio de Arquitectos de Madrid” (Madrid Architect Association); carried out by the architects Jerónimo Junquera and Liliana Obal, and the engineer Leonardo Fernández Troyano.

More detailed information can also be found in the following links:
- Hipódromo de la Zarzuela (Zarzuela Racecourse). DOCOMOMO database:
- Hipódromo de la Zarzuela (Zarzuela Racecourse). CEHOPU-CEDEX database:
http://www.cehopu.cedex.es/etm/obras/ETM-115.htm
- Hipódromo de la Zarzuela (Zarzuela Racecourse). Colegio de Arquitectos de Madrid database:
http://212.145.146.10/biblioteca/fondos/ingra2014/index.htm#inm.F3.474
- Eduardo Torroja’s Zarzuela Racecourse grandstand: Design, construction, evolution and critical assessment from the Structural Art perspective. Engineering Structures, Nº105 (2015)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141029615006343
- Hipódromo de la Zarzuela (Zarzuela Racecourse). Informes de la construcción, Vol 14, Nº 137 (1962)
- Assessment and monitoring of durability of shell structures in “Zarzuela Racecourse” Madrid. Informes de la construcción, Vol 63, Nº 524 (2011)
- An overview of Eduardo Torroja’s works can be found in a special issue of the journal Informes de la Construcción (Vol 14, Nº 137, 1962):
http://informesdelaconstruccion.revistas.csic.es/index.php/informesdelaconstruccion/issue/view/444
Location: Rome, Italy
Date: 1957-1958
Authors: Pier Luigi and Antonio Nervi (Engineer and Architect)

BUILDING DESCRIPTION
Pier Luigi Nervi designed the Flaminio Stadium with his son, the architect Antonio Nervi, between 1957 and 1958. The structure was built for the XVII Olympic Games in Rome (1960) and inaugurated in 1959.
At the end of the 1950s the site was selected to host the main nucleus of new facilities designed for the Rome Olympics: the Olympic Village by A. Libera, L. Moretti, V. Cafiero, V. Monaco and A. Luccichenti (1960), the Corso di Francia Viaduct by P.L. Nervi (1960), the Palazzetto dello Sport by A. Vitellozzi and Nervi (1958), the Palazzo delle Federazioni Sportive by P. Carbonara. Designed for football matches, the stadium could host up to 50,000 spectators. It also featured four gymnasiums, a pool, a bar, change rooms and a first aid station. The structure was completed by state-of-the-art building systems.
Concrete was employed in different ways and in original forms: in situ castings for the large structural frames, prefabricated elements for the grandstands, undulating slabs of ferrocement realised on site in specially designed formwork for the canopies. The project demonstrates how Nervi was already focused on the phase of construction while still designing, convinced that obeying the laws of statics was a guarantee in its own right of the proper aesthetic result.
CURRENT STATE AND SINGULARITY
Abandoned for years, the stadium is now in an advanced state of decay. This degeneration can be traced back to three principal causes: improper interventions that failed to respect the characteristics of the original structure, widespread deterioration caused by years of neglect and the physiological aging of materials and plant systems.

AUTHOR
Pier Luigi Nervi (21 June 1891 – 9 January 1979) was an Italian engineer and architect. He studied at the University of Bologna graduating in 1913. Nervi taught as a professor of engineering at Rome University from 1946 to 1961 and is known worldwide as a structural engineer and architect and for his innovative use of reinforced concrete.
Nervi began practicing civil engineering after 1923. His projects in the 1930s included several airplane hangars that were important for his development as an engineer. A set of hangars in Orvieto (1935) were built entirely out of reinforced concrete, and a second set in Orbetello and Torre del Lago (1939) improved the design by using a lighter roof, precast ribs, and a modular construction method.
During the 1940s he developed ideas for reinforced concrete which helped in the rebuilding of many buildings and factories throughout Western Europe, and even designed and created a boat hull that was made of reinforced concrete as a promotion for the Italian government.
Nervi also stressed that intuition should be used as much as mathematics in design, especially with thin shell structures. He borrowed from both Roman and Renaissance architecture while applying ribbing and vaulting to improve strength and eliminate columns. He combined simple geometry and prefabrication to innovate design solutions. Most of his built structures are in his native Italy, but he also worked on projects abroad. Nervi’s first project in the United States was the George Washington Bridge Bus Station. He designed the roof which consists of triangle pieces which were cast in place. This building is still used today by over 700 buses and their passengers.
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PROJECT DETAILS
- GRANT AGREEMENT NUMBER: 760858
PROJECT FULL TITLE: Innovative materials and techniques for the conservation of 20th century concrete-based cultural heritage - PROJECT ACRONYM: InnovaConcrete
- TYPE OF ACTION: RIA – Research and Innovation Action
- WORK PROGRAMME: Nanotechnologies, Advanced Materials, Biotechnology and Advanced Manufacturing and Processing
- TOPIC: Innovative Solutions for the Conservation of 20th century cultural heritage (NMBP-35-2017)
- START DATE: January, 1, 2018
- DURATION: 36 months