Original name
Edificio Torres Blancas [Torres Blancas building]
Original use
Housing / block
Current use
Housing / block
Architects
Francisco Javier Sáenz de Oíza
Engineers
Carlos Fernández Casado, Javier Manterola Armisén
Others
Juan Daniel Fullaondo y Errazu, José Rafael Moneo
Concrete by reinforcement
Concrete is a relatively brittle material that is strong in compression but less so in tension.
To increase its overall strength, steel rods, wires, mesh or cables may be embedded in concrete before it sets. This reinforcement, often known as rebar, resists tensile forces. By forming a strong bond, the two materials are able to resist a variety of applied forces, effectively acting as a single structural element .
Construction method
In this case, the concrete can be made by mixing the components directly on site, or it may be transported from a production plant in concrete-mixer trucks.
This method has the disadvantage of leaving the concrete exposed to the elements while it is setting. Whereas, with other methods, the environmental conditions can be controlled during setting, providing greater control over the outcome, with cast-in-place concrete a series of tests and protocols are necessary to verify its final strength.
Architectural concrete
- textured walls
- wooden formwork finish
- stamped concrete
- exposed aggregate concrete, colored concrete, etc.
Structural types
A shear wall resists loads parallel to the plane of the wall. Collectors, also known as drag members, transfer the diaphragm shear to shear walls and other vertical elements in the seismic force resisting system. Shear walls are typically light-framed or braced wooden walls with shear panels, reinforced concrete walls, reinforced masonry walls or steel plates.
State of Conservation
Description
This unique apartment tower soon became a characteristic element in the skyline of the Spanish capital and brought international recognition for its author, Francisco José Sainz de Oíza. A close relationship with the developer and owner of the construction company, Juan Huarte, allowed Oíza to create a unique and experimental building that marked the beginning of what was known as the “organic phase” in Madrid, resulting in some of the best buildings of the postwar Spanish avant-garde.
Torres Blancas is a 23-story 81-meter-high building characterized by an expressionist volume made up of vertical cylinders that are expressed on the exterior as balconies, combined with opaque, continuous towers that run vertically along the building’s length. Both these elements, towers and balconies, respond to the architect’s idea of creating a building with organic growth – as Oíza himself put it, the “branches and leaves of a tree”.
The structure and façades are built with exposed concrete, all with rounded corners, combined with wooden joinery and shutters to close off the balconies. Initially, the idea was to clad the building in white stone – hence the reference to the color white (“blancas”) in the name – but the idea was ultimately dismissed for economic reasons.
The building’s structure is as unique as its volume: the floor plan – centrifugal and characterized by circular geometries – lacks any pillars. The building is held up by the walls, straight and curved, that organize the different floors. A series of circular cores house communications and building services.
Torres Blancas is a one-of-a-kind building: its highly complex design, marked by the insistent use of curved geometries, is expressed both in its volumes and in its carefully formulated public and private interior spaces, resulting in a futuristic architecture that is full of unique solutions. In short, it is a major work of 20th-century Spanish architecture.
Spain
37 America Avenue
Madrid 28002 Madrid
Commission
1961
Completion
1968