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Pier Luigi Nervi

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Pier Luigi Nervi
Pier Luigi Nervi
Born(1891-06-21)21 June 1891
Sondrio,Italy
Died9 January 1979(1979-01-09)(aged 87)
Rome,Italy
EducationUniversity of Bologna
OccupationEngineer
Engineering career
DisciplineStructural engineer,architect
InstitutionsSociety for Concrete Construction
Institution of Structural Engineers
ProjectsOlympic Stadiumin Rome (1960)
UNESCOheadquarters in Paris (1950)
Hangar in Orvieto(1935)
AwardsIStructEGold Medal
Wilhelm Exner Medal(1957)
AIA Gold Medal(1964)

Pier Luigi Nervi(21 June 1891 – 9 January 1979) was an Italian engineer and architect. He studied at theUniversity of Bolognagraduating in 1913. Nervi taught as a professor of engineering at Rome University from 1946 to 1961 and is known worldwide as astructural engineerandarchitectand for his innovative use of reinforced concrete, especially with numerous notable thin shell structures worldwide.

Biography[edit]

Nervi was born inSondrioand attended the Civil Engineering School ofBolognafrom which he graduated in 1913; his formal education was quite similar to that experienced today by Italian civil engineering students. After graduating he joined the Society for Concrete Construction and, during World War I from 1915 to 1918, he served in the Corps of Engineering of the Italian Army. From 1961 to 1962 he was the Norton professor atHarvard University.

Civil engineering works[edit]

Nervi began practicing civil engineering after 1923. His projects in the 1930s included several airplane hangars that were important for his development as an engineer. A set of hangars inOrvieto(1935) were built entirely out of reinforced concrete, and a second set inOrbetelloandTorre del Lago(1939) improved the design by using a lighter roof, precast ribs, and a modular construction method.[1]

During the 1940s he developed ideas forreinforced concretewhich helped in the rebuilding of many buildings and factories throughout Western Europe, and even designed and created aboat hullthat was made of reinforced concrete as a promotion for the Italian government.

Nervi also stressed that intuition should be used as much as mathematics in design, especially with thin shell structures.[citation needed]He borrowed from bothRomanandRenaissancearchitecture while applying ribbing and vaulting to improve strength and eliminate columns. He combined simple geometry andprefabricationto innovate design solutions.

Engineer and architect[edit]

Nervi was educated and practised as aningegnere edile(translated as "building engineer" ) – in Italy. At the time (and to a lesser degree also today), a building engineer might also be considered an architect. After 1932, his aesthetically pleasing designs were used for major projects. This was due to the booming number of construction projects at the time which used concrete and steel in Europe and the architecture aspect took a step back to the potential of engineering. Nervi successfully made reinforced concrete the main structural material of the day. Nervi expounded his ideas on building in four books (see below) and many learned papers.

Archeological excavations suggested that he may have some responsibilities for theFlaminio stadiumfoundations passing through ancient Roman tombs.[2]His work was also part of thearchitecture eventin theart competitionat the1936 Summer Olympics.[3]

International projects[edit]

Most of his built structures are in his native Italy, but he also worked on projects abroad. Nervi's first project in the United States was theGeorge Washington Bridge Bus Station,for which he designed the roof, which consists of triangular pieces that were cast in place. This building is still used today by over 700 buses and their passengers.

Noted works[edit]

The Tour de la Bourse in Montreal (1964)

Awards[edit]

Pier Luigi Nervi was awarded Gold Medals by theInstitution of Structural Engineersin the UK, theAmerican Institute of Architects(AIA Gold Medal1964) and theRIBA.

In 1957, received theFrank P. Brown MedalofThe Franklin Instituteand theWilhelm Exner Medal.

Publications[edit]

  • Scienza o arte del costruire?Bussola, Rome, 1945.
  • Costruire correttamente,Hoepli, Milan, 1954.
  • Structures,Dodge, New York, 1958.
  • Aesthetics and Technology in Building(TheCharles Eliot Norton Lectures,1961-62). Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1965.[4]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^Leslie, Thomas(3 January 2014)."nervi hangars".architecturefarm.Archivedfrom the original on 2014-01-29.Retrieved4 October2017.
  2. ^Six Nations 2011: Stadio Flaminio dig to reveal Roman 'City of the Dead'at guardian.co.uk
  3. ^"Pier Luigi Nervi".Olympedia.Retrieved11 August2020.
  4. ^Republished with critical and historical essays as:Nervi, Pier Luigi (2018).Aesthetics and technology in building: the twenty-first-century edition.Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

External links[edit]

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