Eladio Dieste

Eladio Dieste (December 1, 1917 – July 29, 2000) was a Uruguayan engineer who made his reputation by building a range of structures from grain silos, factory sheds, markets and churches, most of them in Uruguay and all of exceptional elegance.

A particular innovation was his Gaussian vault, a thin-shell structure for roofs in single-thickness brick, that derives its stiffness and strength from a double curvature catenary arch form that resists buckling failure.

[1] There were several architects and engineers in South and Latin America who were working in the modernist language, such as Guillermo Gonzalez Zuleta in Colombia, Carlos Raúl Villanueva in Venezuela and Félix Candela in Mexico, who brought architecture and structural engineering into close proximity, especially when undertaking humble commissions.

His buildings were mostly roofed with thin shell vaults constructed of brick and ceramic tiles.

[2] Dieste is quoted about his use of materials and structure: With regard to structure Dieste stated: Many of the techniques that he developed to achieve these forms, such as pre-stressing of brickwork and moveable formworks, were in advance of contemporary techniques in the developed world.

Cristo Obrero Church in Atlántida , Uruguay
Door of Wisdom , locally nicknamed 'The Gull', a sculptural tribute to Dieste at Salto, Uruguay , using his techniques