Eladio Dieste was an Uruguayan architect and structural engineer known for his innovative thin-shell brick vaulting techniques. Some key points about Dieste include: - He developed the Gaussian vault, a thin brick shell structure that derived its strength from a double curved catenary arch form. - Dieste brought architecture and structural engineering into close proximity through his vaulting forms. - Many of his projects in Uruguay used brick instead of concrete due to its local availability and affordability. - Notable works include the Atlantida Church (1958) and the San Pedro Church in Durazno, both featuring his signature thin brick vaulting.

1. CONTEMPORARY DESIGN THEORY AND
CRITICISM
Ankita Khante-Barsha Amarendra-Eesha Ithadi

2. BIOGRAPHICAL TIMELINE
Born at Uruguay in 1917
Deceased on 29th july,2000
1943: Graduates from
the civil engineering
faculty in Montevideo.
1945-1948: Engineer at
Christiani & Nielsen.
1953-73: Professor for Bridges
and Large-Scale Structures at the
Faculty of Engineering in
Montevideo.
1958: Atlantida
Church 1975: Warehouses
at the port of
Montevideo
1956: Founded
the firm 'Dieste y
Montanez’
Caputto Fruit Plant.
Salto, Uruguay
1971-72
Gimnasio Don Bosco.
Montevideo,
Uruguay. 1983-84

3. Building typologies
Warehouse
Bus
terminal
Church
Commercial
buildings
Houses
Stadium

4. Eladio as an innovator
 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.
 One of the few to bring architecture and structural engineering into close
proximity.
 These forms made of bricks were cheaper than reinforced concrete, and didn't
require ribs and beams. In developing this approach, even in comparison with
modernists the world over, he was an innovator.

5. Traditional method of ribbing
Innovative way deduced by
Eladio Dieste

6. Laying of bricks for Vaulting

7. Ideology behind…
“For architecture to be truly constructed, the materials must be
used with profound respect for their essence and possibilities; only
thus can 'cosmic economy' be achieved... in agreement with the
profound order of the world; only then can have that authority that
so astounds us in the great works of the past.”
The resistant virtues of the structure that we make
depend on their form; it is through their form that
they are stable and not because of an awkward
accumulation of materials. There is nothing more
noble and elegant from an intellectual viewpoint than
this; resistance through form (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.)

8. Basic Design considerations
 The proportions of the whole
 Integration of the structural aspect
with the form of the building
 The economy and elegance of the
materials
 The detail of the parts and
articulation of every module in a
building
 Knowing the use of light as it plays
on and especially as it is admitted
into these buildings.

9. regionalism
 Instead of opting for the use of concrete
as his material of choice, as some of his
contemporaries did—Félix Candela—Dieste
decided to capitalize on the availability and
affordability of a well-known local material:
brick.
 The use of brick not only made economic
sense to him, but it also allowed for the
projects he worked on to insert themselves
within a long tradition of construction in
Latin America, echoing the culture of his
native Uruguay.
 And by creating sophisticated structural
solutions with this humble, traditional
material, he established a bold new
narrative that pushed back against the
Modernist movement’s machine aesthetic
and its use of industrial materials such as
concrete, steel, and glass.

10. The art of brickwork

11. Interplay of light and shadow

12. Atlantida church
Made.
The walls and surfaces are thin and folded
brick laminate, designed by Dieste, and are
so slim that never before had anyone been
able to achieve the effect with traditional
materials.

13. The thoroughly traditional placement of
the bricks joined to each other, keeping a
predetermined joint in the masonry,
disappears completely in the architecture
of Dieste; it adds to it a new component,
"steel" in bars or wires, which is included
in a regular and uniform manner
throughout the plan

16. CHURCH OF SAN PEDRO, ROCHE

17. Form, light, and
material resolution are
also combined in an
exceptional manner to
produce an almost
sublime experience at
the Church of San
Pedro in Durazno.

18. Don bosco stadium

19. Julio Herrera Obes Warehouse,
Montevideo, Uruguay

20. Salto Bus terminal, 1974

21. Contemporary Private residences

22. Modern interpretations
The works of Eladio Dieste have
also inspired some contemporary
architects. 290 Mulberry is a
residential building designed
by SHoP architects.

23. conclusion
His architecture was a preoccupation deeply
rooted in a rigorous intellectual search for
material and structural reciprocity and
efficiency. Being acutely aware of the socio-
cultural and economic conditions of his country,
he was able to formulate an unconventional
practice of architecture in tune with this context,
establishing the principles of what he called a
“cosmic economy”—that is, to be in accord with
the profound order of the world.
As the search for new materiality in
contemporary architecture advances, Dieste’s
legacy and his body of work—some of the most
inspiring, elegant, and functional buildings of
the second half of the 20th century in Latin
America—can offer renewed relevance and
inspiration to designers today.