Eduardo Torroja’s Zarzuela Racecourse grandstand: Design, construction, evolution and critical assessment from the Structural Art perspective

Abstract

The grandstands of La Zarzuela Racecourse in Madrid designed by the engineer E. Torroja and the architects C. Arniches and M. Dominguez are one of the world's most outstanding concrete constructions of the first half of the 20th century. This paper describes the design competition and the conceptual design process that led to their construction and carries out a critical assessment of the grandstands from the perspective of Structural Art. By doing so, the paper helps to develop the discipline of structural criticism, and points out lessons learned from their design and construction process which should not be forgotten at the present time, such as: (a) the importance of design competitions; (b) the fact that the pursuit of economy and efficiency can actually improve the quality and aesthetics of the design; (c) the importance of combining logical reasoning based on technical criteria with imagination to achieve excellence in structural design; and (d) the importance of estimating structural behavior by simple formulas and of learning from both existing structures and experimental models.

Analysis of Eduardo Torroja’s Tempul Aqueduct an important precursor of modern cable-stayed bridges, extradosed bridges and prestressed concrete

“…This study is a follow-up to previous research on Torroja's designs (see e.g. [19]- [22], [25]) and those of other engineers, such as Gustav Eiffel [26], Pier L. Nervi [27], Félix Candela [28][29], Othmar Ammann [30] and Hilario Candela [31].…”

“…For almost forty years, he conducted intense activity as a university professor, researcher, and consultant engineer [3, 17,18]. He was an outstanding designer of new and innovative construction procedures and shapes in thin concrete shells (such as the Zarzuela Hippodrome Roof (1935), see [19]), the Frontón Recoletos (1935), see [20] or the CASA factory roof [21]), structures (the Fedala water storage tank (1956) or the San Nicolas Church in Gandia, see [22]) and bridges (such as Tempul (1926) or Alloz (1947)). To build such remarkable structures, Torroja developed construction technologies, built scale models and monitored his structures to check their safety, learn about their structural behavior, and improve later designs.…”

Social appreciation for the improvement of tourism management of 20th-century heritage: a methodological proposal

“…They were joined by the engineer Eduardo Torroja, a pioneer in the design of concrete-shell structures. His work on the grandstands (Figure 2) with their distinctive roof is recognized internationally (Antuna Bernardo, 2003;Moragues et al, 2015). It was built in 1935, but it was interrupted during The hippodrome develops its activity, as a sports center for horse racing, in lands owned by the Spanish public entity Patrimonio Nacional (National Property), taking part of the natural area of El Pardo, with a great environmental value and being part of an important green corridor (Hip odromo de la Zarzuela, 2018).…”

“…They were joined by the engineer Eduardo Torroja, a pioneer in the design of concrete-shell structures. His work on the grandstands (Figure 2) with their distinctive roof is recognized internationally (Antuna Bernardo, 2003; Moragues et al , 2015). It was built in 1935, but it was interrupted during the Spanish Civil War in 1941.…”