Engineer
Eladio Dieste
A Natural-Born Artist
The pursuit of beauty was the driving force behind his work
His greatest contribution was the creation of living, solid forms—curved shapes that brought movement to Uruguayan architecture and helped redefine its landscape.
Graduating from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of the Republic in 1943, Dieste made brick his signature material. This basic and accessible resource allowed him, as he desired, to integrate his work into the social fabric. Many of his structures were designed to accommodate large numbers of people, making his churches, bus terminals, warehouses, and industrial sheds particularly notable.
Dieste took brick to its lightest form through the creation of curved surfaces using a new technology he called reinforced ceramic: vaulted constructions made of brick, steel reinforcement, and a minimal amount of concrete.
This construction system allows for the design of thin shells combining brick, steel, and mortar, built on a mobile formwork. What distinguishes these structures is their design—capable of withstanding structural demands thanks to their form rather than their mass, resulting in reduced material requirements. Reinforced ceramic construction gained wide acceptance for its potential in prefabrication and component standardization, offering cost-effective solutions for the market.
Dieste’s work, which earned him the title of Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of the Republic in 1993, is studied in both national and international universities.
Our Warehouse
Julio Herrera y Obes Warehouse
In 1975, a public call was made for the reconstruction of an old warehouse in the Port of Montevideo that had been destroyed by fire. Eladio Dieste proposed recycling the existing walls, preserving the proportions of the original 19th-century structure, and roofing the 4,200 m² space with double-curved reinforced ceramic vaults. These vaults span 50 meters, with a clear height under the tension cables of 6.5 meters.
Project Description
The roof consists of 14 post-tensioned vaults made from hollow bricks (25 x 25 x 10 cm), bonded with sand and Portland cement mortar, and covered with a 2–2.5 cm thick layer of mortar on the outer surface, painted white to reflect solar radiation. The support structure is formed by two edge beams of reinforced concrete, anchored to concrete reinforcements installed on the old brick walls.
These reinforcements are connected to the edge beam and foundation blocks using pre-compressed steel cables. The walls and openings were carefully treated to preserve and highlight their spatial value.
Inside, structural pilasters were regularized, and walls repaired with a hand-applied plaster made of sand and Portland, finished with lime paint to unify the look of the old masonry. Outside, due to significant deterioration, the walls were given a brick veneer, with special attention paid to highlight the openings.
The side and front walls feature a succession of doors and solid sections, framed to form a series of reliefs that lighten the façade and reflect the sense of motion conveyed by the vaults. The gables include upper windows placed above the doors, emphasizing the pilasters that alternate between each door or solid panel.
Window glass is flush with the interior wall, and the sills are built from stepped rows of bricks—matching the shape and angle of the pilasters—creating a strong expression of unity. Natural light enters primarily through a transversal slit in each vault, closed with glass supported by metal uprights.
Project Details
National Port Administration.
Depósitos Montevideo S.A. (private concessionaire).
19th-century warehouse roofed with double-curved hollow brick vaults.
Foundations reinforced for new roof; old walls restored to highlight their expression.
| Project | Eng. Eladio Dieste |
| Construction Company | Dieste y Montañez S.A. |
| Date | October 1977 – May 1979 |
| Location | Rambla 25 de Agosto & Zabala, Port Area, Montevideo |
| Covered Area | 4,200 m² |
| Vaults | Double curvature, 50 m span, 5.60 m rise |
| .Pillar Height | 6,50 m |
His Works
Tradition and Innovation
Eladio Dieste was born on December 1, 1917 in Artigas and passed away on July 19, 2000 in Montevideo. After earning his engineering degree, he immersed himself in the modernist movements expanding throughout Europe at the time. While Le Corbusier was the dominant figure, Dieste found greater inspiration in Catalan architect Antonio Bonet and Uruguayan artist Joaquín Torres García.
He began to shape the foundation of his work: covering large spaces without intermediate supports, efficient use of natural light, and spatial openness. His effective and artistic handling of light continues to fascinate those who admire his work. His skill in giving light its proper place shows his deep respect for nature and refined sensitivity. With this exquisite ability, Dieste developed a new form of architectural poetry.
Another core concept in Dieste’s work was economy of means—an ideal that guided and defined his entire approach. He was inspired by people’s real needs and always sought to create spaces at human scale.
His career, marked by iconic works such as the Church of Atlántida and the Julio Herrera y Obes Warehouse, received international recognition from the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Princeton University, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which named 2005 “The Year of Eladio Dieste.” In 2006, Uruguay honored this engineer-architect during Heritage Day, held the weekend of October 7–8, under the theme: “Tradition and Innovation: Eladio Dieste, the Lord of the Bricks”.