Los Manantiales Restaurant
Félix Candela; Joaquín Álvarez Ordóñez · Mexico City, Mexico · 1958
Los Manantiales explores the expressive and structural possibilities of a thin concrete shell. Félix Candela and Joaquín Álvarez Ordóñez completed the restaurant in 1958 in Xochimilco. Its intersecting curved surfaces form a continuous roof over a largely open interior, allowing a broad social space to be covered with very little visible thickness. The building is especially valuable for reading the connection between geometric form and load transfer. Views from around its perimeter reveal how the shell approaches the ground at a limited number of supports. Visiting: A restaurant building in Xochimilco. No general architecture admission is implied. Check operating status and authorized access.