Tribute to Julio Martínez Calzón

Yesterday, a tribute to the founder of MC2, Julio Martínez Calzón, was held at the national headquarters of the Spanish Institution of Civil Engineers.

The event began with a guided tour of the Juan Bravo Bridge in which Jorge Bernabéu highlighted aspects such as the technological innovation that it represented at that time, as it was the first composite concrete-steel structure in Spain, as well as the first time that the combination of weathering steel and white concrete as structural elements was employed. Another factor that stood out was the effort to integrate the bridge into a classic environment in that area of the city of Madrid. The importance of the bridge as a backbone element of an artistic complex was also confirmed, in which it coexists with multiple works of art that form an urban museum.

Subsequently, the event continued with a round table in the Agustín de Betancourt Auditorium, made up of speakers who had close personal and professional contact with the honoree.

The interventions, complementary to each other and very heartfelt and emotional, tried to do justice to the greatness of the figure of Julio Martínez Calzón, making evident his high intellectual and personal level in multiple subjects, not only structural engineering, but also art, poetry, astronomy, philosophy and music, thanks to his vocation as a humanist engineer.

One of the participants in the round table was Álvaro Serrano, Technical Director of MC2, who was in charge of collecting and showing the structural legacy that Julio left during his professional life.