Candela, Felix (fā`lēks kändā`lä), 1910–, Mexican architect, b. Madrid. Candela studied in Madrid but was forced to flee Spain after his participation in the Spanish civil war. He went to Mexico in 1939 and set up his own construction firm, gaining renown for his design of thin-shelled concrete domes. Among his best-known works are the Cosmic Ray Pavilion (1950–51) for Mexico's University City; the Church of La Virgen Milagrosa (1953), Mexico City; and Los Manantiales restaurant (1958), Xochimilco.

Bibliography

See study by C. Faber (1963).

Candela, Felix

(born Jan. 27, 1910, Madrid, Spain—died Dec. 7, 1997, Durham, N.C., U.S.) Spanish Mexican engineer and architect. He immigrated to Mexico in 1939 and began to design and construct buildings there. His ferroconcrete structures are distinguished by thin, curved shells that are extremely strong and economical; his imaginative use of paraboloid barrel-vaulting helped dispel mistaken notions of the limits of this material. Notable works include the expressionistic church of Nuestra Señora de los Milagros in Mexico City (1955), with a hyperbolic paraboloid roof of ferroconcrete only 1.5 in. (3.8 cm) thick.