Collection by Miyoko Ohtake
The Art of Structure
Last weekend, The Art of Structure opened at the Carnegie Museum of Art Heinz Architectural Center. Dedicated to feats of modern engineering, the exhibition features 20 scale models of bridges and slope-y structures accompanied by the drawings and notes that lead to their creation and is the combination of two other shows: Félix Candela: Engineer, Builder, Structural Artist and The Art of Structural Design: A Swiss Legacy. The exhibit runs September 25 through January 17, 2011.
Here, an image of the Chapel Lomas de Cuernavaca under construction in 1958. Photo by Dorothy Candela.
Another project on display by Candela is his Bacardi Rum Factory (completed in 1960) in Cuautitlán, Mexico. Photo by Dorothy Candela.
Also by Candela, the stunning 1958 structure for Los Manantiales Restaurant in Xochimilco, Mexico City. Photo by Dorothy Candela.
The Swiss half of the show features designers like Othmar Ammann, who immigrated to the United States before designing the George Washington Bridge over the Hudson River, connecting New York and New Jersey, in 1931. Photo by Bruce M. White.
Also on display is the work of Heinz Isler. Shown here, the Heimberg Indoor Tennis Center in Bern, Switzerland, completed in 1979. Photo courtesy David P. Billington.
Also by Isler and incorporated into The Art of Structure is his shell model on the leak-proof roof of his office building in Burgdorf, Switzerland. Photo courtesy Heinz Isler.
Finally, the show features the structural spans of Swiss bridge designers Robert Maillart and Christian Menn. Shown here is Maillart's Salginatobel Bridge, built in the Salgina Valley in Schiers, Switzerland in 1930. Photo by Mancia/Bodmer FBM Studio.
Here, Menn's Sunniberg Bridge, completed in 1999 over the Landquart River in Graubünden, Switzerland. Photo courtesy Christian Menn.