Eduardo Torroja Miret (Madrid 1899 – 1961), was the protagonist of the scientific and technical revolution in the development of reinforced and prestressed concrete in the 20th century. He graduated as Civil Engineer, Canals and Ports in 1923 at the Special School of Madrid.
In 1934 he founded the Technical Institute of Construction and Building, work that he combines with teaching from 1939.
He designed the Algeciras Market in 1933, together with the architect Manuel Sánchez Arcas, finishing the works in 1935, occupying the building in 1936. The project consisted of making the roof of a market, with an open space, without interior supports, which would allow free placement of sales booths.
The magnificent building is located in the historic center of the city, close to the Port and its former food market, opened in 1821 in the same Plaza de Nuestra Señora de la Palma.
Torroja developed new techniques to build a dome from a reinforced concrete membrane, for this reason, the Algeciras food market is an outstanding example of modern architecture in Spain and was declared an Asset of Cultural Interest by the Ministry of Culture of the Junta de Andalucía on October 25, 2001 as the best example of the Modern Movement in the community.
The volume is defined by a spherical dome that rests on eight supports and shows a central skylight. The outer edge of the dome is cut by cylindrical vaults that go from support to support, serving the link with the dome to stiffen the edges of the latter and to direct the main stresses. These vaults are projected as a cantilever covering the access doors to the market.
On the square there is a floor plan in the shape of a regular octagon of 18.20 m on each side, with entrances on four of the faces, opposite two by two, forming two orthogonal streets with internal circulation that intersect in the center. The organization allows the stalls to be arranged in concentric circles, as well as the corridors through which they are accessed.
The roof, with a radius of 44.1 m, rests solely on the eight pillars and has a skylight that allows light from above to enter, the materials used being iron and concrete.
Other notable works by Eduardo Torroja: Frontón de Recoletos, Madrid, 1935, Hipodromo de la zarzuela, Madrid, 1935; Church of San Nicolás, Gandía, 1961; Tempul Aqueduct over the Guadalete River, Jerez de la Frontera, 1927; San Telmo Bridge, Seville, 1926.; Foundation of the Sancti-Petri Bridge, Cádiz, 1926; Quince Ojos Viaduct, Madrid, 1929 – 1933; Tordera Bridge, Barcelona, Girona 1944; Pedrido Bridge, La Coruña, 1943; Fedala deposit, Morocco, 1957.
