Architect, Spain Félix Candela’s works in Mexico, the majority of which were executed between 1952 and 1968, provide some of the finest examples of functionality fused with plastic expression that exist in that nation to date. His forms are extremely reductive and simple, and his approach is clearly seen in works such as his ultrathin shells, particularly the hypar shell (1.5 centimeters) of the Cosmic Rays Pavilion (1952) at the new campus of the National Autonomous University in Mexico City and in the vaults of the Mexico City Stock Exchange (1955). Candela’s genius in devising new methods of calculating shell forms is illustrated by a variety of roof constructions, such as the simple umbrella, and short and long vaults. These structures attest to his technical expertise and his fluency in geometry as well as his sense of poetry, as seen in what are widely regarded as his free-edged masterpieces, Las Manantiales Restaurant (1958), where the structure, consisting of an octagonal groin...