This intensive workshop offers an immersion into the work of Félix Candela, the architect-engineer whose thin concrete shell structures profoundly shaped twentieth-century architecture. Through the study of economical, structurally efficient, and spatially expressive forms, students examine the close relationship between geometry, material, and space.
The workshop combines theoretical investigation, physical experimentation, and digital exploration. Drawing on Candela’s principles—particularly the use of the hyperbolic paraboloid and the pursuit of material efficiency—students develop projects in which architecture is conceived in direct relation to structure and geometry.
Work alternates between physical models, casting, tensile structures, parametric modeling, and basic structural simulations. Students work in groups to produce a spatial project based on thin-shell logic. The workshop concludes with a public presentation and a collective discussion on the relevance of shell structures in contemporary architecture.
Architect and structural engineer, Pierre Marquis has worked in engineering offices in Germany and France, notably at Bollinger + Grohmann, and teaches at the École des Arts Décoratifs.
Engineer trained at École Polytechnique and École des Ponts & Chaussées, Koliann Mam specializes in complex timber and hybrid structures and conducts research on material environmental analysis. He teaches at École des Ponts and CHEB.
Architect and structural engineer, Laura Fontaine teaches at ENSA Marseille and edited the book L’Intelligence de la Forme on Félix Candela (Caryatide, 2025).
Félix Candela, writings and projects on thin reinforced concrete shells
Laura Fontaine (ed.), The Intelligence of Form – Félix Candela, Caryatide, 2025
