Felix Candela (1910-1997) was a Spanish-born architect and engineer who gained a worldwide reputation for designing complex concrete structures, especially thin concrete shell structures, many times involving double curvature (hyperbolic paraboloid). This collection contains materials related to Candela's personal, professional, and academic lives, overarching all periods of his career. Project records document the full range of his work of both his Mexican and American periods. The collection contains extensive correspondence with personal friends, clients, and professional and academic colleagues; a large number of reference files relating to architecture, design, urbanism, technology, sociology, anthropology, and current events, compiled throughout Candela's professional life; architectural drawings and photographs from his work; and writings by and about Candela.
This collection is made up of architectural drawings, correspondence, specifications, contracts, invoices, minutes, financial statements, patents, advertisements, photographs, photograph album, test results and reports, memoranda, tile samples, factory order cards, and other materials pertaining to The Guastavino Fireproof Construction Company's projects. The dates of the materials span 1866-1985, with bulk dates 1890-1942. The architectural records include structural, decorative, and acoustical sample products and fragments. Also included are materials added to the files by George Collins (1917-1993), Professor of Art History at Columbia University. Prof. Collins secured the donation of this archive in 1963, and remained its custodian until it was transferred to the Drawings and Archives Collection at the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library in 1988. The records document Prof. Collins' research efforts, as well as the Company's projects in forty states (including District of Columbia), four Canadian provinces, and eleven other foreign countries.