Note
This is a gallery of some of the vaults mentioned in the course. It is still a work in progress though, so we would love your help in identifying which other vaults to add. Please post your suggestion to the discussion forum and we’ll update the gallery as we go along. Thanks!
Agnelli Exhibition Hall B
Read More- Location: Turin, Italy
- Engineer/Designer: Pier Luigi Nervi
- Year of Completion: 1948
- Type of structure: Barrel vault
- Material: Ferrocement
- Dimensions: Main hall is 328 ft by 262 ft; 60 ft tall
Algeciras Market Hall
Read More- Location: Algeciras, Spain
- Engineer/Designer: Eduardo Torroja
- Year of Completion: 1934
- Type of structure: Thin shell dome
- Material: Prestressed concrete
- Dimensions: Diameter of 47.6 m, 90 mm thick
- Function/usage: Market hall
Bacardi Rum Factory
Read More- Location: Cuautitlan, Mexico
- Engineer: Luis Torrres Landa
- Designer: Felix Candela
- Year of Completion: 1960
- Type of structure: Thin shell hypar
- Material: Reinforced concrete
- Dimensions: Six vaults of square plan of 30 m side; 12 m in height
Berlin Hauptbahnhof
Read More- Location: Berlin, Germany
- Engineer/Designer: Ürgen Hillmenr, Meinhard Von Gerkan, Marg & Partners, Hamburgo Gerkan
- Year of Completion: 2006
- Type of structure: Grids with cable network
- Material: Glass and steel roof; Reinforced concrete tower
- Dimensions: 46 ft high; 75,000 m2
- Other interesting facts: Among the glass ceiling, an area of 2,700 m2 of solar panels is composed of 1250 modules
Bolsa De Valores (Stock Exchange Hall)
Read More- Location: Mexico City, Mexico
- Engineer/Designer: Felix Candela, Enrique de La Mora Lopez, and Fernando Carmona
- Year of Completion: 1955
- Type of structure: Thin shell hypar
- Material: Reinforced concrete
- Dimensions: 25.50 m by 14.10 m
Boston Public Library
Read More- Location: Boston, MA
- Engineer: Rafael Guastavino Moreno
- Year of Completion: 1895
- Type of structure: Tiled vaults in the Renaissance Revival, Beaux-Arts
- Material: Tile
BP Station
Read More- Location: Deitingen, Switzerland
- Engineer: Heinz Isler
- Year of Completion: 1968
- Type of structure: Thin shell dome
- Material: Reinforced concrete
Cathedral of Saint John the Divine
Read More- Location: New York, NY
- Engineer: Rafael Guastavino Jr.
- Year of Completion: 1909
- Type of structure: Tile vaulted dome in Gothic design
- Material: Tile
- Dimensions: Exterior covers 121,000 ft2 (11,200 m2), spanning a length of 601 ft (183.2 m) and a width of 232 ft (70.7 m). The interior height of the nave is 124 ft (37.8 m)
Chapel Lomas De Cuernavaca
Read More- Location: Cuernavaca, Mexico
- Engineer: Felix Candela; collaborated with Guillermo Rosell and Manuel Larrosa
- Year of Completion: 1959
- Type of structure: Hyperbolic paraboloid (hypar)
- Material: Reinforced concrete
Colonia Guell Chapel
Read More- Location: Santa Coloma de Cervelló, Spain
- Engineer: Antoni Gaudí
- Year of Completion: Never finished
- Material: Tiles and stones.
Cosmic Rays Laboratory
Read More- Location: Mexico City, Mexico
- Engineer: Felix Candela
- Year of Completion: 1955
- Type of structure: Hyperbolic paraboloid (Hypar)
- Material: Reinforced concrete
- Span: shell is 12 m long, 10.75 m wide; thickness is 1.5-2 cm
Dr. T.M.A. Pai International Convention Center
Read More- Location: Mangalore, India
- Engineer: Sundaram Architects
- Year of Completion: 2007
- Type of structure: Domed shell
- Material: Renforced concrete
- Dimensions: 16,730 m2
Dutch Maritime Museum
Read More- Location: Amsterdam, Holland
- Engineer/designer: Laurent Ney & Dok Architecten
- Year of Completion: 2011
- Type of structure: Dome
- Material: Glass and steel
Hayden Planetarium
Read More- Location: New York, New York
- Engineer: Anton Tedesko
- Year of Completion: 1935
- Type of structure: Domed shell
- Material: Reinforced concrete
- Dimensions: 81 ft diameter; 3 ft thick
- Function/usage: Planetarium
Heimberg Tennis Center
Read More- Location: Heimberg, Switzerland
- Engineer: Heinz Isler
- Year of Completion: 1979
- Type of structure: Thin shell dome
- Material: Reinforced concrete
- Dimensions: Length of 48 m, width of 18.6 m, height of 9.9 m
Flaminio Stadium
Read More- Location: Rome, Italy
- Engineer: Pier Luigi Nervi
- Year of Completion: 1960
- Type of structure: Pleated beam cantilever
- Material: Ferrocement
- Dimensions: 85.8 m by 153.3 m; roof beam is 1.42 m wide, 27.7 m long
Fronton Recoletos
Read More- Location: Madrid, Spain
- Engineer: Secundino Zuazo, Eduardo Torroja
- Year of Completion: 1935
- Type of structure: Barrel shell
- Material: Reinforced concrete
- Dimensions: diamter of 6.40 and 12.20 m; length of 55 by width 32.50 m
- Other interesting facts: Started in april and finished in september; only took five month to build it.
Gatti Wool Factory
Read More- Location: Turin, Italy
- Engineer: Pier Luigi Nervi along with Aldo Arcangeli, Carlo Cestelli Guidi
- Year of Completion: 1951
- Type of structure: Ribbed slabs
- Material: Reinforced concrete
- Span: 5 m by 5 m slabs
Hersheypark Arena
Read More- Location: Hershey, PA
- Engineer: Anton Tedesko
- Year of Completion: 1936
- Type of structure: Barrel shell
- Material: Reinforced concrete
- Dimensions: Height of 25 m, span of 78 m, covered area: 70 by 104 m
- Function/usage: Used for ice hockey nowadays
- Other interesting facts: Build on scaffolding
Highlife Textile Factory
Read More- Location: Mexico City, Mexico
- Engineer: Felix Candela
- Year of Completion: 1955
- Type of structure: Perforated umbrella shell
- Material: Concrete
- Dimensions: Umbrella's length of 12 m, width of 12 m, and thickness of 4 cm
Hyperbolic Paraboloid Shell
Read More- Location: Denver, Colorado
- Engineer: Anton Tedesko
- Type of structure: Hypar
- Dimensions: The roof is made of four hyperbolic paraloidal surfaces and is supported through steel hinges on buttresses in the four corners of a rectangle 112 x 132 ft the 3 in shell rises to a height of 28 ft.
- Function/usage: It was used as Exhibit Pavillion for May D&F Department Store
New! Vault Coming Soon
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- Engineer:
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- Type of structure:
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Kanteerava Indoor Stadium
Read More- Location: Bangalore, India
- Engineer: Sundaram Architects
- Year of Completion: 1998
- Type of structure: Dome
- Material: Reinforced concrete
- Dimensions: Plate thickness of 4 cm; 29 m height
Kingdome
Read More- Location: Seatle, Washington
- Engineers: NBBJ (Seattle), Skilling, Helle, Christiansen and Robertson (Seattle), and Praeger-Kavanagh-Waterbury (NY)
- Year of Completion: 1976
- Type of structure: Dome
- Material: Concrete and structural steel
- Dimensions: 250 ft height and 660 ft width
- Function/usage: Sports stadium
New! Vault Coming Soon
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- Engineer:
- Designer:
- Year of Completion:
- Type of structure:
- Material:
- Dimensions: 111 m
- Function/usage:
- Other interesting facts:
MICO Bosch Food Court
Read More- Location: Bangalore, India
- Engineer: Sundaram Architects
- Year of Completion: 1989
- Type of structure: Series of inverted umbrellas
- Material: Reinforced concrete
Municipal Stadium
Read More- Location: Florence, Italy
- Engineer: Pier Luigi Nervi
- Year of Completion: 1932
- Type of structure: Horizontal cantilever
- Material: Reinforced concrete
- Dimensions: 78 m by 204.6 m playing field; consists of 15 cantilevers, each 14.6 m long; floor slab thickness of 25 cm
Nathaniel Leverone Field House
Read More- Location: Dartmouth College, NH
- Engineer: Pier Luigi Nervi
- Year of Completion:1962
- Type of structure: Barrel vault
- Material: Reinforced concrete
- Dimensions: Span of 66.75 m; height of 13.335 m; length of 109 m; area of 7,276 m2
Naturtheater Grotzingen
Read More- Location: Grotzingen, Switzerland
- Engineer: Heinz Isler
- Year of Completion: 1977
- Type of structure: Thin shell dome
- Material: Reinforced concrete
- Span: 5 point supported shell
- Usage: Outdoor stage.
Norfolk Scope Arena
Read More- Location: Norfolk, VA
- Engineer: Pier Luigi Nervi
- Year of Completion: 1971
- Type of structure: Shell
- Material: Reinforced concrete
- Dimensions: Diameter of 134 m, height of 35.5 m
Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church (Milagrosa)
Read More- Location: Narvarte, Mexico City, Mexico
- Engineer: Felix Candela
- Year of Completion: 1955
- Type of structure: Hyperbolic Paraboloid (Hypar)
- Material: Concrete
- Span: 31 m by 53 m; 20 m high
Pantheon
Read More- Location: Rome, Italy
- Engineer: Trajan/Hadrian
- Year of Completion: 125
- Type of structure: Dome
- Material: Concrete
- Dimensions: Width: 58 m; Height: 58 m; Length: 84 m; Dome diameter and height both: 43.3 m
Princeton University Chapel
Read More- Location: Princeton, NJ
- Engineer: Ralph Adams Cram
- Year of Completion: 1928
- Type of structure: Gothic vaults
- Material: Sandstone, limestone
- Dimensions: Length of 277 ft (84 m), width of 76 ft (23 m), and height of 121 ft (37 m)
Restaurant Los Manantiales in Xochimilco
Read More- Location: Xochimilco, Mexico City, Mexico
- Engineer: Felix Candela
- Year of Completion: 1958
- Type of structure: Hyperbolic Paraboloid (Hypar)
- Material: Concrete
- Span: Diameter of 139 ft; Groins spanning 106 ft
Rio's Warehouse
Read More- Location: Mexico City, Mexico
- Engineer: Felix Candela
- Year of Completion: 1954
- Type of structure: Umbrella shell
- Material: Concrete
- Span: Solid umbrellas measuring 10 by 15 m; thickness of 4 cm
San Antonio de las Huertas
Read More- Location: Mexico City, Mexico
- Engineer: Felix Candela
- Year of Completion: 1956
- Type of structure: Thin shell hypar
- Material: Reinforce concrete
- Span: Three squares of 14 m by 10 m
School roof next to "Sagrada Família"
Read More- Location: Barcelona, Spain
- Engineer: Antoni Gaudí
- Type of structure: Tile vaulted school roof in a conoid structure.
- Material: Tile
Subway Station Candelaria
Read More- Location: Mexico City, Mexico
- Engineer: Felix Candela
- Year of Completion: 1967
- Type of structure: Folded hypar
- Material: Reinforced concrete
St. Louis Airport Terminal
Read More- Location: St. Louis, Missouri
- Engineer: Anton Tedesko
- Designer: Minoru Yamasaki
- Year of Completion: 1956
- Type of structure: Thin shell
- Material: Reinforced concrete
- Dimensions: 3.5 inches thick; shell spans 12 m
- Function/usage: Airport
The Sicli Building
Read More- Location: Geneva, Switzerland
- Engineer: Heinz Isler
- Year of Completion: 1970
- Type of structure: Thin shell dome
- Material: Reinforced concrete
- Dimensions: 33 x 54 m. 7 supports
- Function/usage: Office building
The Food Court: Infosys Campus
Read More- Location: Hyderabad, India
- Engineer: Sundaram Arhitects
- Year of Completion: 2003
- Type of structure: Dome
- Material: Reinforced concrete
- Span: 40 m in diameter
The Grand Central Oyster Bar Restaurant
Read More- Location: Lower level of Grand Central Terminal, NYC, NY
- Engineer: Rafael Guastavino Moreno
- Year of Completion: 1913
- Type of structure: Tile vaults
- Material: Tile
- Other interesting facts: To prove that the vault is safe, a load was put over a vault and lit on fire for three days in 1901. In 1997, the restaurant caught on fire and the bar was safe to re-open thanks to the fire test in 1901.
The Kresge Auditorium
Read More- Location: MIT, Cambridge, MA
- Engineer: Ammann & Whitney
- Year of Completion: 1955
- Type of structure: Dome
- Material: Reinforced concrete
- Dimensions: Height of 15.24 m, span of 34.50 m
The Large Sports Palace (Palazzo dello Sport)
Read More- Location: Rome, Italy
- Engineer: Pier Luigi Nervi
- Year of Completion: 1960
- Type of structure: Ribbed dome
- Material: Reinforced concrete
- Dimensions: Diameter of 100.65 m
The Little Sports Palace (Palazzetto dello Sport)
Read More- Location: Rome, Italy
- Engineer: Pier Luigi Nervi
- Year of Completion: 1957
- Type of structure: Ribbed dome
- Material: Reinforced concrete
- Dimensions: 60 m diameter; rise: 21 m
The Wyss Garden Center
Read More- Location: Solothurn, Switzerland
- Engineer: Heinz Isler
- Year of Completion: 1961
- Type of structure: Thin shell dome
- Material: Reinforced concrete
- Usage: Retail building
Thompson Arena
Read More- Location: Dartmouth College, NH
- Engineer: Pier Luigi Nervi
- Year of Completion: 1975
- Type of structure: Barrel vault
- Material: Reinforced concrete
- Dimensions: Span of 54.3 m; height of 9.57 m; length of 97.5 m; area: 5,290 m2
Turin Exhibition Hall
Read More- Location: Turin, Italy
- Engineer: Pier Luigi Nervi
- Year of Completion: 1954 year
- Type of structure: Vault
- Material: Ferrocement
- Dimensions: 3 cm thick; diameter of 40 m
- Function/usage: Opened in September 1948 for an automobile exposition.
- Other interesting facts: Built in 10 months & recognized as a Nervi masterpiece.
The Food Court for the Infosys Campus
Read More- Location: Bangalore, India
- Founder: Sundaram Architects
- Year of Completion: 2000
- Type of structure: Shell
- Material: Reinforced concrete
- Span: 3000 m2
Vatican Museum
Read More- Location: Vatican City, Italy
- Founder: Pope Julius II
- Year of Completion: Early 16th century
- Type of structure: Barrel vault
- Material: Concrete
Zarzuela Hippodrome
Read More- Location: Madrid, Spain
- Engineer: Eduardo Torroja
- Year of Completion: 1935
- Type of structure: Thin shell horizontal cantilever
- Material: Reinforced concrete
- Span: 12.67 m
- Function/usage: Horse tracks