Eduardo Torroja
On this day in 1899 he was born in Madrid. neighborhood of the letters (on Lope de Vega street) Eduardo Torroja Miret, in a family of Catalan origin with a great scientific tradition.
Until the Civil War, he became one of the most important figures in construction in the Republican era: from the viaducts of the University City to the canopies of the School Institute, the structures of the Clinical Hospital or those of the New Ministries.
Since its formation in 1927, I have been part of the technical office of the Construction of the University City of Madrid, under the direction of architect Modesto López Otero.
The Recoletos fronton was his work with the greatest international impact, unfortunately like some other of his works, destroyed during the civil war.
In those years, its international prestige was very high. Frank Lloyd Wright said of Torroja that he was the greatest living engineer.
Torroja said “The beauty of construction is based on truth, on the rationality of the structure; It must therefore be able to be achieved without external additions or ornamentation” Something that could be a mantra for engineers and architects who today seem more concerned with ornamentation than functionality.
In one of our bike tours by Madrid River We see one of his works, in the Hydrographic Studies Center of the Ministry of Public Works, the work of Architect Miguel Fisac, Torroja built a new river testing warehouse shortly before dying in 1961.
One more figure that we can know in our guided bike tours of Madrid, bicycle tourism a fun way to meet Madrid.
More information about Eduardo Torroja Miret at the Foundation that bears his name: Eduardo Torroja Foundation
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