Looking at several landmarks in Madrid, you can notice that some of these landmarks have a special type of geometric shape. For example, “La Puerta de Alcalá” takes arcs for its main inner shapes. Arcs in engineering are efficient shapes since they do not have sharp edges. In other words, notice that the main inner shapes cut out of the landmark are arcs and not rectangles. Cutting out only rectangles would result in a more fragile structure, meaning it would not be as strong. This is the same reason airplanes have more circular windows instead of square windows. Believe it or not, shapes do affect the integrity of a structure or how strong it can be.
Something important to note about these architectural masterpieces is the art that was incorporated into them. Art can be seen in a lot of things within STEM such as architecture, and art usually challenges the engineer to produce something even more complex, but still reliable. It is because of art and observation of the world around you that Madrid’s architects were able to create such a historical city that continues to be visited by millions of people each year.
