The preservation of the architectural heritage of the twentieth century: the laminar structures of reinforced concrete.

Abstract

The beginning of the 20th century brought a new typology of architecture based on the use of geometrical laws of nature, the use of a new material such as reinforced concrete, and the use of plastic calculus as a tool to mold continuous, adirectional structures, such as the long cylindrical shells of Eduardo Torroja or the hyperbolic paraboloids shells of Felix Candela. This type of architecture allowed the creation of large diaphanous spaces of great plastic beauty due to its close connection with the laws of nature that generates them. Little more than 100 years later we see how the necessary legal protection has not been given to these buildings to consider them part of the heritage and we are witnessing a process of disappearance of most of the structures that have defined an important period of modern architecture. From this research we have made an inventory of the main structures made with these techniques and their state of preservation today and the possible measures for their possible rehabilitation, and real or virtual reconstruction through the use of digital tools, 3D scanners or lifting using photography, and especially its inclusion in the catalogs of buildings that are part of the architectural and cultural heritage. The process culminates with the possible construction on a real scale of the models lost by digital manufacturing systems or the diffusion through augmented reality.