ABSTRACT
The 1950’s and 1960’s brought with them new geometries to architecture such as hyperbolic paraboloids. With these geometries came questions as to how they should be used. The scale-less, abstract nature of these geometries created challenges for both architects and engineers. When is the use of these geometries valid and not just a novelty, can the lack of scale and mass be an advantage and not a disadvantage?
Marcel Breuer saw these new geometries not as thin and weightless, but able to impart mass and force to modernist architecture. Breuer used these geometries in non-conventional ways as well, subverting the structural efficiency of these geometries. By reconciling these geometries with traditional architectural qualities of mass, Breuer juxtaposed these qualities to create new meanings for these geometries.
The chapter starts with describing the dialogue between Felix Candela and Mario Salvadori on the architectural qualities of mathematical shells, and moves to Breuer’s use of these mathematical surfaces, from the UNESCO headquarters to finally the Convent of the Annunciation Priory of the Sisters of St. Benedict in Bismarck, North Dakota.
