Pier Luigi Nervi: Master Designer-Builder
03/12/2021.
[Montréal] Canada
metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA
metalocus, JOSÉ JUAN BARBA
The UQAM Centre de Design presents the work of Pier Luigi Nervi, an acclaimed protagonist of twentieth-century engineering and architecture.
Working toward the synthesis of art and construction science, art historian Nikolaus Pevsner described Nervi as "the most brilliant artist in reinforced concrete of our time." Constructed around the globe, Nervi’s buildings belong to a spectacular period of structural and architectural innovation and symbolize the achievements of Italian engineering in the aftermath of World War II.
Working toward the synthesis of art and construction science, art historian Nikolaus Pevsner described Nervi as "the most brilliant artist in reinforced concrete of our time." Constructed around the globe, Nervi’s buildings belong to a spectacular period of structural and architectural innovation and symbolize the achievements of Italian engineering in the aftermath of World War II.
Pier Luigi Nervi, C Hall of Turin Exhibition Centre, Turin, View of the interior, 1949. Photograph by Mario Carrieri, courtesy Pier Luigi Nervi Project, Brussels
Pier Luigi Nervi, Saint Mary Cathedral, Saint Francisco, Detail of the ceiling, 1964. Photograph by Mario Carrieri, courtesy Pier Luigi Nervi Project, Brussels
Pier Luigi Nervi, Small Sports Complex, Rome, Detail of the ceiling, 1956 Photograph by Mario Carrieri, courtesy Pier Luigi Nervi Project, Brussels
Pier Luigi Nervi, Municipal Stadium, Florence, The structure of one of the Orbetello Hangars under construction. Photograph by Photographer unknown, ca.1939, courtesy Pier Luigi Nervi Project, Brussels
Pier Luigi Nervi, UNESCO Headquarters in Paris Drawing of the longitudinal section showing the deformation pattern of the structure for vertical loads, Plan of the roof, 1953. Photograph Courtesy MAXXI, Archivio Pier Luigi Nervi, Rome
Pier Luigi Nervi, Municipal Stadium, Florence, Detail of the spiral staircase, 1932 Photograph by Mario Carrieri, courtesy Pier Luigi Nervi Project, Brussels
Pier Luigi Nervi, Palazzo del Lavoro, Turin, Detail of a pillar, 1959. Photograph by Mario Carrieri, courtesy Pier Luigi Nervi Project, Brussels
Pier Luigi Nervi, Italian Embassy, Brasilia, Pillars of the ground floor, 1969. Photograph by Mario Carrieri, courtesy Pier Luigi Nervi Project, Brussels
Pier Luigi Nervi, Municipal Stadium, Florence Detail of the spiral staircase, 1932 Photograph by Mario Carrieri, courtesy Pier Luigi Nervi Project, Brussels
Pier Luigi Nervi under the Corso Francia viaduct in Rome Ca. 1960. Photograph by Oscar Savio, courtesy Pier Luigi Nervi Project, Brussels.
Nervi designed and built iconic structures such as the Small Sport Palace (1958) for the Olympic Games in Rome, the Labour Palace in Turin (1960), and the Pirelli Tower in Milan (1960) with the architect Gio Ponti. Another of Nervi’s major projects, one that directly connects the engineer to Montreal, is the Place Victoria Tower (1964), designed in collaboration with the architect Luigi Moretti.
An exhibition in two parts
Entitled Pier Luigi Nervi: Master Designer / Builder, the Centre de Design presents a two-part exhibition. The first is an adapted version of the traveling exhibition Pier Luigi Nervi – Architecture as Challenge, curated by Cristiana Chiorino, and presented for the first time in Brussels in 2010.
The exhibition examines the long career of the engineer, from the 1920s through to the 1970s. It is the product of a multidimensional research project that brought together a large team of researchers with the goal of retracing the various contributions of Nervi's work.
The result is a complex historical fresco in which Nervi's revolutionary building techniques are closely linked to post-war Italy and international social and political developments, coupled with an exploration of the rich cultural and scientific relationships in which Nervi evolved.
The second part of the exhibition is a presentation conceived and curated by Carlo Carbone and Réjean Legault, professors at UQAM École de design. Sistema Nervi focuses on five little-known experimental projects that were carried out using three central elements of Nervi’s production system: the material, the mold, and repetition.
The combination of these elements led to the invention of a composite material: ferrocement. The use of ferrocement opened the way for the development of the tavellone—the formwork that was at the basis of Nervi’s brilliant shells and domes—which remains without a doubt the engineer’s most significant contribution to the constructive culture of reinforced concrete. Bringing together historic photographs, models by UQAM students, and analysis of the five Nervi projects, this presentation underscores the engineer’s atypical approach to design in the production of the built environment.
An exhibition in two parts
Entitled Pier Luigi Nervi: Master Designer / Builder, the Centre de Design presents a two-part exhibition. The first is an adapted version of the traveling exhibition Pier Luigi Nervi – Architecture as Challenge, curated by Cristiana Chiorino, and presented for the first time in Brussels in 2010.
The exhibition examines the long career of the engineer, from the 1920s through to the 1970s. It is the product of a multidimensional research project that brought together a large team of researchers with the goal of retracing the various contributions of Nervi's work.
The result is a complex historical fresco in which Nervi's revolutionary building techniques are closely linked to post-war Italy and international social and political developments, coupled with an exploration of the rich cultural and scientific relationships in which Nervi evolved.
The second part of the exhibition is a presentation conceived and curated by Carlo Carbone and Réjean Legault, professors at UQAM École de design. Sistema Nervi focuses on five little-known experimental projects that were carried out using three central elements of Nervi’s production system: the material, the mold, and repetition.
The combination of these elements led to the invention of a composite material: ferrocement. The use of ferrocement opened the way for the development of the tavellone—the formwork that was at the basis of Nervi’s brilliant shells and domes—which remains without a doubt the engineer’s most significant contribution to the constructive culture of reinforced concrete. Bringing together historic photographs, models by UQAM students, and analysis of the five Nervi projects, this presentation underscores the engineer’s atypical approach to design in the production of the built environment.
More information
Curators
Carlo Carbone, Réjean Legault, and Cristiana Chiorino.
Dates
24 November 2021 to 6 February 2022.
Venue
Centre de design de l’UQAM. 1440, rue Sanguinet, Montréal, Canada.
Pier Luigi Nervi
Pier Luigi Nervi (Sondrio, 21 June 1891 – Roma, 9 January 1979) was one of the world’s leading exponents of structural architecture. His work was vital to presenting the world with an image of a modern and competitive Italy that was both creative and technologically advanced. In the vein of classical architects, Nervi was both a designer and a builder. He was known primarily for his use of reinforced concrete and his skill for verifying design intuitions using scale models; he was also a genius at exploiting the compositional freedoms afforded by the use of prefabricated elements.
Constantly attentive toward the relationship between structure and form, working with the concept of ‘resistance by form’, every part of his structures was rigorously based on the internal forces it was subjected to, clearly manifesting its role in the overall design. Nervi also focused on economic issues, which he considered an opportunity for adopting ever more innovative technologies and highly specialised labour, despite the presence of only a few rudimental materials and resources.
Constantly attentive toward the relationship between structure and form, working with the concept of ‘resistance by form’, every part of his structures was rigorously based on the internal forces it was subjected to, clearly manifesting its role in the overall design. Nervi also focused on economic issues, which he considered an opportunity for adopting ever more innovative technologies and highly specialised labour, despite the presence of only a few rudimental materials and resources.
Pier Luigi Nervi was one of the leading figures of the post-war Italian economic miracle. From this period onward he designed and built some of the most extraordinary industrial and civil buildings (the Turin Exhibition, the Pirelli Skyscraper in Milan with Gio Ponti, the Papal Audience Hall at Vatican City) and exhibition and sports facilities, in particular for the 1960 Rome Olympics.
During the 1950s he became the most internationally recognised Italian designer, completing prestigious projects in Europe (UNESCO Headquarters in Paris with Bernard Zehrfuss and Marcel Breuer), North and South America (George Washington Bridge Bus Station in New York, St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco, the Tour de la Bourse in Montréal, the Italian Embassy in Brasilia, etc.) and Australia (the Australia Square Tower in Sydney).
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