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Pier Luigi Nervi: Art and Science of Building

10/25/2016

“The relationship between esthetics and technology in building has acquired a new richness and variety with the introduction of reinforced concrete – the most fertile, ductile, and complete construction process that mankind has yet found. It is not an exaggeration to say that the development of a new esthetics is being brought about by the unique construction and plastic potentialities of this material.”  Pier Luigi Nervi, 1961.

Described by many as one of the greatest and most inventive designers and builders of the 20th century, Pier Luigi Nervi contributed to a glorious period for structural architecture. An ACI Honorary Member, Nervi shared the cultures of architects and engineers, operating at the intersection between the art, science, and technology of building.

Examples of his work were on display at an international exhibition focusing on Nervi’s life and work at The Concrete Convention and Exposition, Philadelphia, PA, USA recently.

According to construction historians, Nervi had an engineer’s audaciousness, an architect’s imagination and a businessman’s practical realism. His use of the most advanced technical solutions always went hand-in-hand not only with the pursuit of formal elegance but also with an equally strong attention to the technical and economic aspects of the building process.

Nervi’s legacy was discussed in a 2012 Concrete International Article

Born in 1881 in Sondrio, Italy, Nervi graduated with a degree in civil engineering from the University of Bologna. After an apprenticeship in a design office, he opened his own studio in Rome. He elevated construction with reinforced concrete into a veritable art form and added to the vocabulary of concrete technology in architecture.

Nervi’s impressive expressions included fluted shells, lamella vaults, parabolic arches, and fan-shaped buttresses. Although his degree was in engineering, he was able to realize new structural methods in a singular form. In his work, he reunited architecture and engineering. Nervi's work demonstrates completely that his belief in the revolutionary possibilities offered by reinforced concrete is a practical one.

The Nervi Exhibition offered convention attendees a look at masterpieces created in concrete.

Learn more about Nervi here.