Concrete as a continuous element. Miguel Fisac and the origin of the hybrid structures

Abstract

The authorship of the project for the Central headquarters of the Patronato Juan de la Cierva for the CSIC is, without a doubt, from Ricardo Fernández Vallespín. Miguel Fisac, who only supervised the construction’s works, explicitly recognized this on numerous occasions. However, during the execution, Fisac introduced some variations, the most significant in the auditorium, and defined the elements not specified in the project. This study aims to show through the original documentation found of the Fisac Foundation, unpublished, how in this building some of the original elements of the Fisac’s architectural-constructive language of are first materialized, and interests appear that mark all his later work, such as the internal nature of the concrete as soft, pasty and mouldable material; the experimentation with formwork that generates continuous surfaces and hybrid structures, where the parts merge with each other.