Eladio Dieste, who was born in Artigas (Uruguay) 100 years ago on December 10, 2017, was honoured. Dieste was considered a highly esteemed civil engineer, architectural designer and university lecturer with social commitment when he died in Montevideo on July 19, 2000.

His buildings with steel-reinforced brick shells were built in South America and Spain. The event commemorated a protagonist of organic modernism. The venue Haus Schminke in Löbau, Saxony, was built between 1930 and 1933 and is considered an icon of organic modernism.

It is therefore a bridge to Eladio Dieste's work of international significance. Similar events took place in Uruguay and Madrid. Claudia Muntschick, Managing Director of the Schminke House Foundation, was responsible for welcoming the 45 or so guests.

Prof. Dr. phil. Friedrich Albrecht, Rector of the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, spoke about his personal connections to South America.

His wife comes from Ecuador, so he is familiar with the problems that Dieste also had to deal with in his work. These include economic restrictions as well as the constant attempts to establish a cultural identity vis-à-vis former colonial powers.

Alf Furkert, President of the Saxony Chamber of Architects, emphasized the fluid boundary between architecture and civil engineering, of which Dieste is a good role model.

Moderator Prof. Dr. rer. pol. Tino Schütte explained, in conjunction with the tour of Haus Schminke, how similar the views of Dieste and Scharoun - the architect of the venue - were.

Maria José Vignone, envoy of the Uruguayan embassy in Germany, recounted a meeting with Dieste in which he proved to be serious but open. Her husband later mentioned that he had administered powerful computers for Dieste.

The title of the actual technical lecture was 'Eladio Dieste, the engineer from Uruguay who showed us the brick shell' and was given by Prof. Dr.-Ing Jos Tomlow. He met Eladio Dieste in person twice and, together with Prof. Dr.-Ing. Barthel, visited his buildings in Uruguay, followed later by the churches in Madrid. Jos Tomlow is a structural engineering researcher and co-founder of the Gaudí Research Group Delft.

His lecture introduced the tasks of statics in the design of traditional vaults and new types of shells made of reinforced concrete and wood. Eladio Dieste developed the Cerámica Armada, the first reinforced brick shell, for the Casa Berlingieri in Uruguay (architect Antonio Bonet Castellana) in 1947. The Cristo Obrero church in L'Atlántida, Uruguay, in particular, achieved world fame in 1960. The huge work of Dieste and his partner Eugenio Montañez can boast a roof area of 1.5 million m² by 2000.

In addition to the technical information, there were surprising insights into personal interests in the topic of the event during the subsequent discussions over dinner. For example, a Rotarian from northern Germany, who has owned a brickworks since 1907, expressed his admiration for Dieste's brick constructions. Others had heard Dieste himself speak enthusiastically about the brick shell.

As a souvenir of this informative Advent afternoon, the visitors were given a scientific booklet to accompany the lecture, which describes the history of Eladio Dieste's brick shells on 30 pages and with 100 illustrations.

Thanks are due to the photographers Vicente del Amo Hernandéz and Rainer Barthel for the rights to use the images.

An event organized by the Faculty of Business Administration and Engineering Management at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, Haus Schminke Foundation, Saxony Chamber of Architects and Rotary Club Dreiländereck-Oberlausitz.

Impressions by Jens Freudenberg / Sabine Spitzner-Schmieder (photos), Tino Schütte and Jos Tomlow

Eladio Dieste, Sagrada Familia church, Madrid, 1998.

Contact

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jos Tomlow
Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences
Theodor-Körner-Allee 16
D-02763 Zittau, Germany

House Z II, Zi.115.4
Tel. 03583 - 612 4650
email: j.tomlow(at)hszg.de