Paul cottancin and his innovative thin reinforced slabs

Paul Cottancin was a French engineer, well-known for his building Saint-Jean-de-Montmartre in Paris, and pioneer in the use of reinforced concrete in an innovative system. Cottancin did not use heavy bars within thin layers of concrete, but dissipated force by using wire meshes and nets distributed throughout the material in the making of slabs. His system consisted of a wire mesh embedded in these concrete slabs, supported by “spinal stiffeners”, or triangulated ribs. He invented iron or steel trellises that he could use for making curved or plane shapes.

Resource: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Cottancin