The Rhetoric of Pier Luigi Nervi
The Rhetoric of Pier Luigi Nervi

Author: Roberto Gargiani

Publisher: Epfl Press

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9782940222957

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During his long career, Pier Luigi Nervi has explored the potential of concrete through the cast-in place and the prefabrication of elements in reinforced concrete or in ferro-cement, the material he invented and patented during the war. All of his best known works, such as the Berta Stadium, the hangars built in Orivieto, Orbetello and Torre del Lago Puccini, the Halls of the Turin Exposition Center, the Unesco buildings, the Little Sport Palace and the Papal Audience Hall represent an important chapter in the history of architecture, structure and construction of the twentieth century. The passion of Nervi for the manufacturing process of the concrete and formworks is examined in a systematic manner within the volume. The authors illustrate the creative process put in place by Nervi through the examination of documents never even studied in other essays, unpublished designs, drawings, specifications, photographs of the yards and correspondence with colleagues and collaborators.

Physical Models
Physical Models

Author: Bill Addis

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2020-09-25

Total Pages: 1114

ISBN-13: 3433609624

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Physical models have been, and continue to be used by engineers when faced with unprecedented challenges, when engineering science has been non-existent or inadequate, and in any other situation when the engineer has needed to raise their confidence in a design proposal to a sufficient level to begin construction. For this reason, models have mostly been used by designers and constructors of highly innovative projects, when previous experience has not been available. The book covers the history of using of physical models in the design and development of civil and building engineering projects including bridges in the mid-18th century, William Fairbairn?s Britannia bridge in the 1840s, the masonry Aswan Dam in the 1890s, concrete dams in the 1920s, thin concrete shell roofs and the dynamic behaviour of tall buildings in earthquakes from the 1930s, tidal flow in estuaries and the acoustics of concert halls from the 1950s, and cable-net and membrane structures in the 1960s. Traditionally, progress in engineering has been attributed to the creation and use of engineering science, the understanding materials properties and the development of new construction methods. The book argues that the use of reduced scale models have played an equally important part in the development of civil and building engineering. However, like the history of engineering design itself, this crucial contribution has not been widely reported or celebrated. The book concludes with reviews of the current use of physical models alongside computer models, for example, in boundary layer wind tunnels, room acoustics, seismic engineering, hydrology, and air flow in buildings.

Shell and Spatial Structures
Shell and Spatial Structures

Author: Stefano Gabriele

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023-12-04

Total Pages: 931

ISBN-13: 3031443284

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This volume collects the latest advances, innovations, and applications in the field of shell and spatial structures, as presented by leading international researchers at the 2nd Italian Workshop on Shell and Spatial Structures (IWSS), held in Turin, Italy on June 26-28, 2023. The conference was meant to give an overview on experimental and theoretical studies, analysis methods and approaches for the design, computational form finding, structural optimization, manufacturing, testing and maintenance techniques and historical reviews of all types of shell and spatial structures. These include, but are not limited to, tension and membrane structures, framed and lattice structures, gridshells and active-bending structures, shell roofs, tensegrity structures, pneumatic and inflatable structures, active and deployable structures, concrete, metal, masonry, timber and bio-based, spatial structures. The contributions, which were selected by means of a rigorous international peer-review process, present a wealth of exciting ideas that will open novel research directions and foster multidisciplinary collaboration among different specialists.

Concrete and Culture
Concrete and Culture

Author: Adrian Forty

Publisher: Reaktion Books

Published: 2013-02-15

Total Pages: 338

ISBN-13: 1861899335

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Concrete has been used in arches, vaults, and domes dating as far back as the Roman Empire. Today, it is everywhere—in our roads, bridges, sidewalks, walls, and architecture. For each person on the planet, nearly three tons of concrete are produced every year. Used almost universally in modern construction, concrete has become a polarizing material that provokes intense loathing in some and fervent passion in others. Focusing on concrete’s effects on culture rather than its technical properties, Concrete and Culture examines the ways concrete has changed our understanding of nature, of time, and even of material. Adrian Forty concentrates not only on architects’ responses to concrete, but also takes into account the role concrete has played in politics, literature, cinema, labor-relations, and arguments about sustainability. Covering Europe, North and South America, and the Far East, Forty examines the degree that concrete has been responsible for modernist uniformity and the debates engendered by it. The first book to reflect on the global consequences of concrete, Concrete and Culture offers a new way to look at our environment over the past century.

The Architecture of Modern Italy
The Architecture of Modern Italy

Author: Terry Kirk

Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press

Published: 2005-06-02

Total Pages: 288

ISBN-13: 9781568984360

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“Modern Italy”may sound like an oxymoron. For Western civilization,Italian culture represents the classical past and the continuity of canonical tradition,while modernity is understood in contrary terms of rupture and rapid innovation. Charting the evolution of a culture renowned for its historical past into the 10 modern era challenges our understanding of both the resilience of tradition and the elasticity of modernity. We have a tendency when imagining Italy to look to a rather distant and definitely premodern setting. The ancient forum, medieval cloisters,baroque piazzas,and papal palaces constitute our ideal itinerary of Italian civilization. The Campo of Siena,Saint Peter’s,all of Venice and San Gimignano satisfy us with their seemingly unbroken panoramas onto historical moments untouched by time;but elsewhere modern intrusions alter and obstruct the view to the landscapes of our expectations. As seasonal tourist or seasoned historian,we edit the encroachments time and change have wrought on our image of Italy. The learning of history is always a complex task,one that in the Italian environment is complicated by the changes wrought everywhere over the past 250 years. Culture on the peninsula continues to evolve with characteristic vibrancy. Italy is not a museum. To think of it as such—as a disorganized yet phenomenally rich museum unchanging in its exhibits—is to misunderstand the nature of the Italian cultural condition and the writing of history itself.

Behavioural Production
Behavioural Production

Author: Robert Stuart-Smith

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-07-15

Total Pages: 442

ISBN-13: 104004445X

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Autonomous manufacturing and cyber-physical systems are key enabling technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR4) which are currently being incorporated into the building design and construction industries. These emerging IR4 technologies have the potential to effectively improve construction affordability and productivity, address current and future building demand, and reduce the environmental impact of the built environment. However, design approaches that make use of IR4 technologies are still relatively unexplored. While automation, such as mass production, promotes standardised design solutions, design thinking that embraces varying degrees of autonomy can lead to unique and considered approaches to design on an industrial scale. Behavioural Production: Semi-Autonomous Approaches to Architectural Design, Robotic Fabrication and Collective Robotic Construction explores design operating through the orchestration of spatiotemporal events. A multi-agent behaviour-based approach to computation is employed in architectural design and extended to individual and swarm-based robotic methods for additive manufacturing. Behavioural Production seeks to expand our capacity to engage with the world at large through varying degrees of autonomy. In an industrialised world where traditional craftsmanship has been marginalised and cannot scale to meet societal needs, this book speculates a means to bring scalable forms of creativity into the act of making. This is explored through the use of materials, generative algorithms, computer vision, machine learning, and robot systems as active agents in design conception and realisation. The book presents a collection of ideas, projects, and methods developed in the author’s design practices and research labs in the fields of architecture and computer science. This body of work demonstrates that engaging with semi-autonomous processes does not diminish authorship, but rather expands it into new forms of design agency that seamlessly integrate with emerging manufacturing and construction technologies whilst authoring distinctive design character.

Architecture Beyond the Cupola
Architecture Beyond the Cupola

Author: Alberto Pugnale

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2023-05-24

Total Pages: 231

ISBN-13: 3031267354

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This book reviews Dante Bini’s inventions and designs, focusing on his form-resistant Binishell and other pneumatic construction systems. Dante Bini’s double profile of architect and builder underpins the narrative of the entire book. It is used to analyse the evolution of the early reinforced-concrete Binishell patent into a variety of automated construction systems based on the use of air. Dante Bini has always been quite proactive in promoting his work and disseminating the results of his experimentations and achievements via journal articles, conference presentations and public talks; promotional brochures in multiple languages were also prepared to export and license his patents in various countries, from Italy to the Americas and Australia. Despite this, a rigorous study of Dante Bini’s work is still unavailable, and the relevance of this figure to contemporary architecture has yet to be discussed comprehensively. This book fills in this gap and arrives at the right time: during the last two decades, there has been an exponential interest in shell and spatial structures, particularly concerning the use of complex geometries and innovative construction techniques. This book will be of interest to academics in architectural design, theory and construction history, and practitioners and students interested in expanding their knowledge in the design and construction of shell and spatial structures.

Modern Architecture: A Critical History (Fifth) (World of Art)
Modern Architecture: A Critical History (Fifth) (World of Art)

Author: Kenneth Frampton

Publisher: Thames & Hudson

Published: 2020-09-08

Total Pages: 1161

ISBN-13: 0500775923

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An extensively revised and updated edition of a bestselling classic on modern architecture and its origins by Kenneth Frampton. Kenneth Frampton’s highly acclaimed survey of modern architecture and its origins has been a classic since it first appeared in 1980. Starting with the cultural developments since 1750 that drove the modern movement, moving through the creation of modern architecture, and exploring the effects of globalization and the phenomenon of international celebrity architects, this book is the definitive history of modern architecture. For this extensively revised and updated fifth edition of Modern Architecture, Frampton added new chapters exploring the ongoing modernist tradition in architecture while also examining the varied responses to the urgent need to build more sustainably and create structures that will withstand changing climates. This new edition features completely redesigned interiors and an updated and expanded bibliography, making this volume more indispensable than ever.

New Perspectives in Italian Cultural Studies: The arts and history
New Perspectives in Italian Cultural Studies: The arts and history

Author: Graziella Parati

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2012

Total Pages: 345

ISBN-13: 161147566X

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Following the more theoretical first installment of New Perspectives in Italian Cultural Studies devoted to Definitions, Theory, and Accented Practices, the second volume of New Perspectives deals with practicing cultural studies by offering articles that are valuable for both scholars of Italian studies and students interested in a cultural studies approach. Divided in four sections, the articles included offer complex approaches to literature, film, the visual arts, and a particular moment in Italian history with which Italians are still coming to terms, fascism. The essays cover about two hundred years of Italian cultures dealing with the construction of national myths, the role of soccer in contemporary debates, the contemporary success of mystery novels, and issues of race and crime in fascist Italy. Contributors look at film through the lens of fashion history and the particular Italian use of dubbing that continues even today. Place and memory are the topics of a number of essays that also allow for an interpretation of Italian culture inAmericans' imagination. This volume contains a multifaceted representation of Italy and invites additional discussion on the complexity of representing cultures