A marvel of Modernism: The hyperbolic paraboloid

              The Historic
Dimension Series
A student publication series by the UNCG Department of Interior Architecture
A Marvel of Modernism:
The Hyperbolic Paraboloid
by Mary Frances Daniel 		 Spring 2011
Most commonly recognized as the shape
of the Pringles potato chip, the hyperbolic
paraboloid design had significant mean-ing
to mid-century modernist architecture.
Emerging from World War II, mid-century
modernism encompassed the progressive
optimism that was felt culturally during this
period and was thus expressed through the
buildings themselves. With such a forward
looking ideology, architects transformed
preconceived notions about material use
and spacial organization and used techno-logical
innovations to transform architec-ture.
The hyperbolic paraboloid embodied
such notions and came to exemplify these
cultural sentiments. While at the time of its
inception the public did not always see the
true meaning represented in this design, nor
what the architects had attempted to con-vey,
today many are beginning to appreci-ate
its significance. Although some premier
examples have been forever lost, many still
remain and, if preserved, will continue to
illustrate the sense of hope and progress felt
in the mid-twentieth century.
The Beginnings of Modernism
Modern architecture truly began in Europe
in the early twentieth century and soon
found its way to the United States. Fun-damentally,
it was a revolt against style,
although ironically it became known as the
International Style. It embraced new build-ing
technology, which had reduced the need
for load bearing walls and had begun to
incorporate the structural technology of in-ternal
skeleton supports. The three essential
traits of modernism were to utilize new ma-terial
innovations in order to dramatically
restructure interior space, to cease referring
to past historical styles, and to avoid the
use of unnecessary ornamentation. Thus,
the two mantras which best summed up
Modernist architect were “less is more” and
“form follows function.” This was perhaps
seen most evidently in suburban houses
designed in Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie
Style. Moving away from the structured and
decorated Victorian architecture, the Prairie
Style incorporated a floor plan with multi-purpose
rooms that flowed into one another
and allowed for open space. Additionally, it
applied new building technologies of steel
and glass to integrate indoor and outdoor
spaces with enlarged windows and roof and
deck plans which appeared to extend into
nature. Thus, Wright and other architects al-lowed
function and setting to determine the
exterior form of a building.
The post-World War II years brought about
further changes in Modernist architecture
including the use of the hyperbolic parabo-loid
in roof designs. However, mid-century
Modernism expressed several fundamental
differences from the International Style.
As noted by architect Matthew Nowicki
in 1949, mid-century Modernism differed
from the earlier design notion that “form
follows function,” but rather these new
designs allowed for functionalism, spaces
that were flexible and adaptable according
to need. Additionally, mid-century Mod-ernism
incorporated the use of structural
materials as a form of ornamentation. It
also included the principle of humanism,
America’s
postwar
culture was
marked by
prosperity
and ex-pressed
sentiments
of optimism,
innovation,
and experi-mentation,
all of which
hyperbolic
paraboloids
embodied.
UNCG The Historic Dimension Series: 2
Fig. 3: Eduardo Catalano in front of his house
Raleigh, NC
which considered the psychological effect of a building’s
design, as opposed to solely the physical needs of the
building’s occupants. Due to new structural innovations,
it allowed for a sense of buoyancy not typically found in
the International Style. Thus, functionalism, humanism,
and construction became the foundation for mid-century
Modernism. As for its cultural appeal, Nowicki urged
that aesthetic judgement not be carried out in conven-tional
ways, but rather, as he stated, “this judgment had
to be based on the merits of the philosophy responsible
for the form and the directness with which this phi-losophy
was expressed in three dimensions” (Nowicki,
Composition, p. 406). Therefore, the architecture of mid-century
modernism could not be valued the same way
that traditional architecture was, but rather be appreci-ated
by understanding what the design represented and
said about contemporary culture. One example of this
new interpretation within architecture was the hyper-bolic
paraboloid.
The Rise of the Hyperbolic Paraboloid
Encompassing new building materials and technologi-cal
innovations, the hyperbolic paraboloid was a true
expression of the changes in mid-century Modernist
architecture. As seen in Fig. 2, fundamentally the hyper-bolic
paraboloid is a doubly ruled surface in the shape
of a saddle. Architecturally, the hyperbolic paraboloid
is representative of both a space structure, in which the
building’s form is based on three dimensional design
and rigidity, and a shell structure, a curved surface
made of rigid materials able to resist compression and
tension. Most importantly, the hyperbolic paraboloid is
able to gain strength from its own form thus enabling
it to extend large surface areas without the need for
interim columns or support. As a result, it requires less
materials in its construction and absorbs tension and
compression at any point and in any direction across
its curved surface. As important as the material and
technological innovations are, the cultural significance
of the hyperbolic paraboloid was equally significant..
America’s postwar culture was marked by prosperity
and expressed sentiments of optimism, innovation, and
experimentation, all of which the hyperbolic paraboloid
embodied. Locally, its influence was realized through
the efforts of the School of Design at North Carolina
State University.
The Influence of NCSU’s School of Design
Established in 1948, the School of Design grew to inter-national
acclaim in part by the efforts of its dean, Henry
Kamphoefner. Under his guidance, the school attracted
innovative and influential faculty members, including
Matthew Nowicki and Eduardo Catalano, who not only
taught, but also designed modernist buildings in Raleigh
and trained many architects in this style throughout the
state. In expressing the progressive and optimistic ideals
of postwar America through modern architecture, this
mid-century movement left a lasting impact on the local
built environment. Their implementation of the hyper-bolic
paraboloid achieved such goals, and through this
design these architects applied new building technolo-gies,
reorganized space, and redefined roof planes.
However, despite their efforts, this design was never
fully accepted by the general public, and because of this
underappreciation, some of its premier examples were
destroyed.
Catalano House, Raleigh, NC
One such lost example of the hyperbolic paraboloid was
the Catalano House in Raleigh, built in 1954, and seen in
Fig. 3 with its architect Eduardo Catalano. This hyper-bolic
paraboloid roof was made of timber construction.
Its planks were nailed together in three layers, opposing
points secured to the ground with concrete piers that
were connected underground by steel tension cables.
Thus, the roof extended outward into the air from its
Fig. 2: Hyperbolic Paraboloid Design
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Fig. 4: Patio of Catalano House, Raleigh, NC
two supports, which allowed for areas of openness in Fig. 5: Dorton Arena, Raleigh, NC
some places and areas of seclusion in others, as seen
in Fig. 4. The finished product was a 1,700 square foot,
three bedroom house with a 4,000 square foot roof
measuring 2.5” thick. Representative of a true hyperbolic
paraboloid, the Catalano House embodied the ideals of
mid-century Modernism by incorporating experimenta-tion
and emerging building technologies into its design.
Such profound architecture had value not only for
its structural innovation, but also for its cultural sig-nificance.
Catalano was part of a movement of young
architects that sought new ways of constructing the built
environment. A native of Argentina, he came to Raleigh
as a professor at NCSU’s School of Design after work-ing
for a period in London. Typical of the mid-century
modernist movement, Catalano sought inspiration from
international influences and from geometric forms in na-ture.
Always fascinated with the hyperbolic paraboloid
design, a form which won him second place in a 1945
General Motors design competition, he began construc-tion
on a house for himself in Raleigh in 1954, imple-menting
such a form. Upon completion, his house was
praised from architects within the field, including Frank
Lloyd Wright, and was named House of the Decade by
House and Home magazine. Unfortunately, the house re-ceived
little local praise and produced minimal influence
among citizens of Raleigh.
In 1956, Catalano left the School of Design for a posi-tion
at MIT and never built another house like the one
in Raleigh. The Catalano house exchanged hands a few
times until it finally sat vacant from 1996 to 2001. Due
to issues of neglect, the house soon began to deteriorate.
Preservation North Carolina, a private nonprofit state-wide
historic preservation organization, tried to save the
Catalano House by finding a buyer and trying to place
protective easements on the house, but to no avail. In
2001 the City of Raleigh condemned the structure and it
was demolished, thus losing one of the premier ex-amples
of a hyperbolic paraboloid design not only in the
state, but in the country. George Smart, Chairman and
founder of the preservation nonprofit Triangle Mod-ernist
Houses, stated that some problems in deteriora-tion,
which were exacerbated by the building’s neglect,
existed because the construction technology at the time
was more advanced than that of the material science.
The positive note is that material science has since
caught up with the construction technology and similar
issues would not exist today. Although appreciation for
mid-century Modernism began to grow in recent years,
especially locally through the efforts of organizations
like Triangle Modernist Houses, support unfortunately
came too late for the Catalano House.
Dorton Arena, Raleigh, NC
Fortunately, Raleigh still retains other representations of
the hyperbolic paraboloid form. One existing interpreta-tion
is the Dorton Arena, seen in Fig. 5. It was designed
by NCSU’s School of Design professor Matthew No-wicki
and Raleigh architect William H. Deitrick. Con-structed
in 1952 as a public arena on the North Carolina
State Fairgrounds, this building is a prime example
of a parabolic suspension structure and exemplified
achievements in blending architecture and engineering.
Although technically not a true hyperbolic paraboloid
due to the mathematical dimensions of its arches and
roof surface, the Dorton Arena embodied the basic prin-ciples
and ideals of the design. The skeleton structure is
comprised of concrete and steel, with an exterior cover-ing
of metal and glass. Three hundred feet in diameter,
this oval shaped structure contains permanent seating
capacity for over 5,000 and the capability for additional
temporary seating, with a total maximum capacity of
over 9,000 seats. The arches are fourteen feet wide and
have a maximum height of ninety feet, crossing each
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other around twenty-six feet in the air. Suspended by a
network of cables from its arches, illustrated in Fig. 6,
the weight of the saddle shaped roof is equalized. The
double curved, metal roof has one set of cables sus-pended
between two compression arches and another
set of cables stretched at right angles to the other set. As
seen in Fig. 7, this cable roof design allows for interior
openness and diminished the need for structural steel
supports, resulting in every seat having a completely
unobstructed view. Water is drained from the roof by
V-shaped spouts placed at each intersection point of
the parabolic arches, which direct water into an open
container at either end. This drainage system and sound
roof construction passed the test of Hurricane Hazel in
1954 as it experienced no leaks or damage.
Dorton Arena designer Matthew Nowicki was born in
Poland in 1910. After traveling throughout Europe and
working as a planner in the reconstruction of Warsaw
after World War II, he moved the United States in 1947
and soon joined the faculty of NCSU’s School of Design.
Nowicki believed that humanism was the main principle
within the modernist movement, with people and their
way of life being the prime source of inspiration for his
designs. Commissioned by the Department of Agricul-ture,
the Dorton Arena was built to serve North Caro-lina’s
agricultural, industrial, commercial, and general
needs within the State Fairground complex. Tragically,
Nowicki died in a plane crash on his way to India in
1950 and Dietrick carried out his design plans and over-saw
the building’s completion. Originally named the
Livestock Judging Pavilion, the name was changed in
1961 in recognition of fair manager J.S. Dorton.
Lauded for its parabolic suspension, its blending of
architectural and engineering innovation, and its combi-nation
of forces of tension and compression, the Dorton
Arena, again seen in Fig. 8, soon achieved national and
international fame. In 1953 the American Institute of Ar-chitects
awarded the building its First Honor Award and
The Architectural League of New York bestowed upon
it its Gold Medal in Engineering. In 1957 the AIA named
it one of the ten buildings of the twentieth century
expected to exert the most significant influence on the
future of American architecture. The same year photo-graphs
and a model of the building were highlighted in
the Milan International Exposition of Modern Decorative
and Industrial Arts and Modern Architecture. Such ac-claim
and innovation led the Dorton Arena to be the first
modern building nominated to the National Register of
Historic Places. Admitted before the usual fifty year re-quirement,
the Dorton Arena was placed on the National
Register in 1973 due to its status of “exceptional impor-tance.”
Pam-Oil Gas Station, Fayetteville, NC
As the influence of the hyperbolic paraboloid spread
throughout Raleigh, other cities in North Carolina began
to appreciate its innovative design and to implement
similar structures. Fayetteville, North Carolina is home
to an example where the public embraced this design
in commercial structures. In 1956 the Pam-Oil gas sta-tion
was erected on Bragg Boulevard. It incorporated a
hyperbolic paraboloid design to distinguish itself from
other competitors on Fayetteville’s busy commercial
street which served local residents and members of the
growing Fort Bragg military base. Seen in Fig. 9, the
building’s two opposing ends reach into the air while
concrete supports hold the other two ends to the ground.
Adding to a further impact on the street, this self-sup-porting
roofline is asymmetrical with the front corner
higher than the rear. Its structure consists of concrete
and steel reinforcements with a facade of glass walls and
a roof made of a 2.5” thick layer of concrete. This struc-tural
innovation represented yet another feat of engi-neering
as well as one of the first examples of concrete
being used conspicuously and decoratively.
Fig. 7: Interior of Dorton Arena, Raleigh, NC
Fig. 6: Cable System at Dorton Arena, Raleigh, NC
UNCG The Historic Dimension Series: 5
Built by North Carolina architect J. Hyatt Hammond, a
graduate of the NCSU’s School of Design in 1953 and a
student of Catalano, Hammond choose the hyperbolic
paraboloid form after much study of it under his pro-fessor.
Soon after completion the building achieved its
intended impact and was featured in Southern Architect
magazine in 1957 and in The State magazine in 1958.
Representative of design ingenuity and cultural achieve-ments
of the time, the Pam-Oil gas station still stands as
a testament to the hyperbolic paraboloid design and the
spread of its influence throughout the state. Such local
examples show the influence that the School of Design
had in North Carolina, but the impact of the hyperbolic
paraboloid was also felt on a national level.
TWA Terminal, JFK Airport, NYC
Eero Saarinen’s 1962 TWA Terminal at JFK Airport in
New York, shown in Fig. 10 and Fig. 11, represented
one such national example. When TWA commissioned
Saarinen to build a new terminal in 1956, he declared
that his primary objective for the project was to create
a unique and memorable structure that expressed the
drama and excitement of flight. Saarinen rejected the
idea that a building should be a literal representation of
anything, but that design should be a pure abstraction.
As seen in Fig. 12, his creation abstractly represented
aviation and paired together the notions of visibility and
immersion, with the building’s interior placing travel-ers
in an area of free flowing space and form. Saarinen
himself stated of the design, “As the passenger walked
through the sequence of the building, we wanted him
to be in a total environment where each part was the
consequence of another and all belonged to the same
form-world” (Stoller, The TWA Terminal, p. 3).
Saarinen was a Finnish American who studied sculpture
in Paris before attending the Yale School of Architecture.
He graduated in 1934 and after a tour of Europe re-turned
to America to work for his father’s renowned arts
and crafts academy. Before beginning his design for the
TWA terminal, Saarinen expressed concern that modern
architecture was in peril of falling into a mold because
it utilized the same design technique again and again.
Thus, he pledged that his terminal would be distinctive
from the rest. The result was a concrete shell composed
of four separate domes, which emerged from four aero-dynamic
Y-shaped concrete piers that curved inward
to meet at the top of the terminal. Glass walls reached
to the ceiling, with steel reinforcements that allowed
them to lean outward from the building. The tremen-dous
weight from the concrete required hidden steel
reinforcements as well as visible buttressing around the
edges. Sadly, Saarinen died in 1961 before the opening
of the terminal, but he expressed strong pleasure at its
design on his last visit to the site that same year when he
stated “TWA is beginning to look marvelous. If anything
happened and they had to stop work right now and just
leave it in this state, I think it would make a beautiful
ruin” (Stoller, The TWA Terminal, p. 5).
Form was of the utmost importance to Saarinen, who
produced his final technical drawings only after his final
form had been modeled. This sparked some backlash
from critics who said this strayed from modernists’
mantra of “form follows function.” Others in the archi-tectural
field complained that Saarinen’s creation was
too dramatic and was designed to catch the attention of
corporate America and stir up excitement at board meet-ings.
Additionally, cultural appreciation of the terminal
was lukewarm. The 1950s and 1960s were periods of
rigid social and architectural values, with little apprecia-tion
for those who broke the mold. Hence, Saarinen’s
unorthodox design did not receive wide praise by most
of the nation’s population. Despite the lack of broad ap-preciation,
the TWA terminal became a destination point
in itself by hosting stylish restaurants, clubs, and loung-es
which attracted many visitors. Other acclaim was re-
Fig. 9: Pam-Oil Gas Station, Fayetteville, NC
Fig. 8: Side of Dorton Arena, Raleigh, NC
UNCG The Historic Dimension Series: 6
ceived before its completion from architectural journals
such as Architectural Record and Progressive Architecture,
which praised Saarinen’s terminal for its original and
memorable design. Even after Saarinen’s death, mixed
feelings about his lasting legacy existed. Some dismissed
him as a minor master in the field of architecture, but in
1962 the AIA awarded him their highest honor, the Gold
Medal for Architecture. Today, shifting architectural
ideologies allow for greater public appreciation of what
Saarinen was trying to achieve, and in 1994 his termi-nal
was designated a Landmark by New York City’s
Landmarks Preservation Commission. Unfortunately,
the terminal has sat vacant since TWA’s demise in 2001.
JetBlue’s terminal currently occupies part of Saarinen’s
creation, which they call Terminal 5, and although they
have demolished several of its sections, they do plan to
restore the main portion for active use. Such ideas for
use include a possible museum or restaurant. Despite
mixed reviews and its currently vacant status, the TWA
Terminal stands today as a cultural representation of the
glorification of air travel in the 1960s and the optimism
and excitement of flight that was once felt. As airplanes
have become yet another mode of mass transportation,
the importance of preserving Saarinen’s TWA terminal
is crucial in order to remind people of the hope and
enthusiasm that once epitomized this method of trans-portation.
Worthy of Preservation
The lasting legacy of the hyperbolic paraboloid design
remains today as a testament to mid-century Modernist
architecture and its expressions of optimism, ambition,
and innovation in postwar America. Through the influ-ence
of NCSU’s School of Design and influential archi-tects
such as Catalano, Nowicki, Hammond, and Saarin-en,
the hyperbolic paraboloid expressed such sentiments
through its design. Although at its inception popular
cultural appreciation was lacking, today sentiments are
beginning to shift in understanding and valuing what
this design was attempting to convey. Additionally,
modern interpretations of the hyperbolic paraboloid are
still being built, such as the example in Fig. 13, which
was built in 2007 and is located in Raleigh’s Cameron
Village neighborhood. As time continues to pass, it
is safe to assume that admiration for the hyperbolic
paraboloid will continue to grow. Therefore, as many
of these structures remain standing, with some sitting
abandoned, it is of the utmost importance to preserve
them in order to convey their true meaning. In this ever
increasing era of pessimism, their message of optimism,
innovation, and hope for the future that was once felt are
more important than ever to retain.
Bibliography
Foster, M. (2008, Mar. 27). Moved Once, Saarinen’s TWA
Trumpet To Fall. National Trust for Historic Preservation,
Online Only. Retrieved from http://www.preservation-nation.
org/magazine/2008/todays-news/moved-once-twa-
trumpet-to-fal.html
Goodnight Raleigh. (2010). The Passing of a Legend, an op-portunity
lost. Retrieved Feb 22, 2010, from http://good-nightraleigh.
com/2010/02/the-passing-of-a-legend-an-opportunity-
lost/
Mumford, L. (1952). A Backward Glance. In L. Mumford
(Ed.), Roots of contemporary American architecture: A series
of thirty-seven essays dating from the mid-nineteenth century
to the present (pp. 3-30). New York: Reinhold Publishing
Corporation.
North Carolina Historic Preservation Office, City of Fay-etteville.
(2009). Fayetteville Modern Architecture Survey.
Fayetteville, NC: MdM Historical Consultants, Inc.
Nowicki, M. (1952). Composition in Modern Architec-ture.
In L. Mumford (Ed.), Roots of contemporary American
architecture: A series of thirty-seven essays dating from the
Fig. 11: TWA Terminal, JFK Airport, NYC
Fig. 10: TWA Terminal, JFK Airport, NYC
UNCG The Historic Dimension Series: 7
mid nineteenth century to the present (pp. 404-410). New
York: Reinhold Publishing Corporation.
Schafer, B. H. (1973). The writings and sketches of Matthew
Nowicki. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia
Siegel, C. (1962). Structure and form in modern architecture.
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Stoller, E. (1999). The TWA Terminal. New York: Princ-eton
Architectural Press.
Tofts, D., Jonson, A., & Cavallaro, A. (2002). Prefiguring
cyberculture: An intellectual history. Cambridge, Mass:
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Triangle Modernist Houses. (2007-2011). Eduardo Fer-nando
Catalano. Retrieved Feb 22, 2011, from http://
www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/catalano.htm
U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service.
(1994). Early Modern Architecture in Raleigh Associated with
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(2006). The Development of Modernism in Raleigh 1945-
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Ruth Little.
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to George Smart at Triangle Modernist
Houses for providing thoughtful insight on the Catalano
House.
Photo Acknowledgements
Figure 1: Preservation North Carolina
Figure 2: Wikipedia (image only)
Figure 3: Preservation North Carolina
Figure 4: Preservation North Carolina
Figure 5: Courtesy of the author
Figure 6: Courtesy of the author
Figure 7: Courtesy of the author
Figure 8: Courtesy of the author
Figure 9: Triangle Modernist Houses
Figure 10: New York Architecture
Figure 11: New York Architecture
Figure 12: New York Architecture
Figure 13: Courtesy of the author
The Historic Dimension Series is a collection of briefs prepared
by UNCG students under the direction of Professor Jo Ramsay
Leimenstoll. For information on other topics in the series please
visit the website at go.uncg.edu/hds
Fig. 13: 2007 Interpretation, Raleigh, NC
Fig. 12: Interior, TWA Terminal, JFK Airport, NYC