Gaudí, a New Architectural Concept of Maximum Structural Efficiency: Catenary Vaults, Complex Ruled Surfaces, Branched Pillars and an Endless Innovative Strategies

Abstract

For the first time in the history of architecture, Antonio Gaudí used structural elements based on complex ruled surfacesbeyond traditional conical or cylindrical surfaces -, catenary vaults or branched pillars, in order to increase the structural efficiency of his buildings. The catenary arch had been used only in the construction of bridges by a few engineers, starting in the 18th century. Arata Isozaki said that the "scale model and the structural analysis of the church at the Güell Colony are the most original in the history of architecture". Beyond his artistic and creative geniuswhich has now been widely studied and acknowledged -Gaudí was a revolutionary architect, whose experimental approaches to the design and calculation of structures implied a focus that was so far ahead of its time that later, hugely significant engineers and architects have coincided with the methods and systems used by Gaudí half a century earlier. Norman Foster said in reference to Gaudí: "his methods, a century later, are still revolutionary".

Shape analysis of the preorbital bar in caviomorph rodents

“…This trade‐off, in species with hypertrophied jaw adductor muscles (e.g., tuco‐tucos, Becerra et al, 2014) could have shaped this bar's morphology to bear the concomitant powerful loading by acquiring a catenary‐like shape. A catenary‐like shape functions best for loading relaxation (Huerta, 2006; Makert & Alves, 2016; Salas et al, 2021), just as Antoní Gaudí did in the Sagrada Familia and other architectonical masterpieces.…”

“…The specific shape of this curve only depends on the applied loading. As the English scientist Robert Hooke hypothesised in 1676 and the Catalan architect Antoní Gaudí confirmed it in practise centuries later, the best way to bear maximum load with the least amount of material is through a simple catenary curve, which is also widely represented in nature (Allen et al, 2016; Huerta, 2006; Makert & Alves, 2016; Salas et al, 2021).…”