Image note
Three original interpretations of reinforced brick & undulating vaults, informed by The work of engineer Eladio Dieste: Church of Atlántida. These images explore material and spatial ideas; they are not documentary views or measured reconstructions of the reference. The palette is drawn from the material portrait.
Publication credit: The Chromologium.
Image credits and reuseThe colour strip is the entry’s study palette. Artwork sources and image credits and reuse terms are recorded in the archive.
Artwork recordThree views of one material idea.
Eladio Dieste’s Church of Atlántida uses exposed reinforced brick in curving walls and roof vaults. The brick unit remains legible while the overall structure behaves as a continuous shaped surface.
Read the material study01 / Reading the material
The small brick in the long curve
Dieste’s Church of Atlántida keeps the brick unit visible within curving walls and vaults. The eye can follow a course while also reading the surface as a larger continuous form. That double scale gives the material a presence beyond a flat masonry texture.
02 / From surface to space
Read the whole.
Then the edge.
An oblique view reveals the changing silhouette and the depth of the curve. Light travels across the surface differently as its orientation changes, even when the material remains consistent. A section and a close joint study help connect the overall form to its assembly.
Follow a horizontal brick course through a curve. Compare the small repeated unit with the changing silhouette of the wall and roof.
03 / Colour in context
A palette you can work with.
Five tones drawn from the material portrait. Select a colour, compare it on paper and ink, or copy its value into your own study.
Surface
#63371d
Colour values & paper / ink comparison
oklch(0.386 0.074 49.771) · primary
The colour stays fixed as its surroundings change.
Try the bench exercise
04 / At the bench
Make the observation tangible.
Make an illustrative curved surface from repeated rectangular units and light it from one side. Preserve the unit rhythm through the bend. Treat the model as a visual study, not a structural reconstruction of Dieste’s reinforced-brick system.
Keep a view of the whole beside a close detail. Note the material, lighting and the one variable you changed.
Source & orientation
Keep the reference close.
UNESCO World Heritage Centre. (n.d.). The work of engineer Eladio Dieste: Church of Atlántida. Retrieved October 10, 2026.
The material readings and bench exercise are editorial studies of this particular reference. The artwork explores its material ideas; the linked source documents the place.
Artwork & cartographic records
Artwork record · Geographic plate record. Map geometry: Natural Earth, public domain. The archive follows its map’s place names, including territories and disputed areas.
A closer look
Questions about this study
What does this study of Uruguay focus on?
Eladio Dieste’s Church of Atlántida uses exposed reinforced brick in curving walls and roof vaults. The brick unit remains legible while the overall structure behaves as a continuous shaped surface.
Where can I find the original reference?
The work of engineer Eladio Dieste: Church of Atlántida, published by UNESCO World Heritage Centre. The artwork explores the reference’s material ideas; the linked source documents the place.
What could I try at the bench?
Make an illustrative curved surface from repeated rectangular units and light it from one side. Preserve the unit rhythm through the bend. Treat the model as a visual study, not a structural reconstruction of Dieste’s reinforced-brick system.
Continue by material
