INDUSTRIALIZATION AND PREFABRICATION OF THIN VAULTS AND SHELLS IN LATIN AMERICA DURING THE SECOND HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY

After World War II, the socio-economic difficulties in some Latin American countries often led to political instability conditions. In this complex context, solutions were adopted by some designers to meet looming needs: housing for populations reduced to poverty and the construction of strategic infrastructures. In these countries, starting from the 1940s, the introduction of new techniques and materials – such as concrete and steel – enabled the industrialization of building processes. This also allowed the experimentation of standardized models of thin vaults and shells using the traditional thin vaults, whose technique was imported from the Iberian Peninsula as a reference. The solution of “thin” vaults is one of the most interesting, given the peculiarities that distinguish it from other systems. The small thickness of such vaults derives from the consideration that their strength is determined by their shape and cohesive behavior, following the theories of R. Guastavino Moreno. Based on these assumptions, this paper aims to review some solutions developed for the prefabrication of thin vaults and the construction of some remarkable buildings. Based on the principles of prefabrication and reinterpretation of the traditional construction technique, the solutions adopted in some emblematic buildings can be useful for suggesting the development of new technical solutions to put in place shells and thin vaults in the second millennium.