The use of the vacuum concrete technique at the beginning of industrialized construction in Colombia (1950-1955)

Abstract

In 1950, the Colombian architect Álvaro Ortega, obtained the franchise for the company Vacuum Concrete in Colombia in order to build precast elements in the country to meet the strong national demand for low-income housing, taking the first steps towards the industrialization of construction in Colombia. The article describes some of the most important projects in which Álvaro Ortega applied vacuum concrete, especially for the construction of precast walls and covers of thin concrete sheets, using machinery for lifting and positioning. The operational characteristics of this process, as well as the technical and social difficulties that led to Ortega’s business bankruptcy after a few years, are explained through the use of photographs from the construction sites, based on the records from the Inter-American Housing and Planning Center Archive of the National University of Colombia.