VITRUVIO - International Journal of Architectural Technology and Sustainability

The new building components of the Modern Architecture

Graziella Bernardo — 2023-05-11

The invention of reinforced concrete in the second half of the 19th century represented a revolution in building design and construction. Its worldwide spread at the beginning of the last century was the origin of today’s globalized way of building and living. The gradual abandonment of local building traditions and the contemporary debate on the sustainability of construction aimed at reconciling the sector’s energy and material needs with the preservation of the natural environment date back to this period.

From the second decade of the last century until the 1960s, the invention of reinforced concrete also determined the emergence and dissemination of the theoretical principles of the Modern Movement. This movement was joined by numerous architects, each of whom interpreted in an original way the five points of Le Corbusier’s rationalism (pilotis, free floor plan, free façade, ribbon windows, roof-garden-flat roof) and created masterpieces of architecture of the last century. This period was rich of cut-edging innovations in the building components. Through the critical study of archives and historical and technical sources, the work focuses on the innovation of the technological elements of façades to control the interaction between sunlight and the building, today referred to as passive energy systems. The study of some famous architectures of the Modern Movement demonstrates that architectural design is a continuous experimentation of materials and new technological solutions. Moreover, the control of the on-site behavior and effectiveness of innovations provides continuous lessons that presuppose the ability to seize opportunities for development and improvement from failed experiments.

The construction of the modern factory. The introduction of prefabrication in Terra di Lavoro

Francesca Castanò — 2023-05-11

This paper focuses on the investigation and understanding of the industrial heritage designed and built in Campania region, between Naples and Caserta, by the most important Italian architects and engineers in the post-war season. The principal aim of this paper is to present the rich and heterogeneous catalogue of factories designed in these years through unpublished drawings and photos from the building sites.

These examples show a notion of modularity that brings interesting innovations in terms of on-site prefabrication of modular components and construction systems. The construction of these factories is therefore in contrast with Italy’s traditional building techniques based on craft approach and intense use of labour. The project of these factories is the outcome of the effort of famous architects and engineers, such as Lugi Figini e Gino Pollini, Angelo Mangiarotti, Marco Zanuso, Eduardo Vittoria, and Gigi Ghò, who experimented new structural solutions based on the orderly and coherent composition of prefabricated elements. This research stems from the revitalised interest in studies of prefabrication in Italy between the 50's to the 70's of the last century, and about the innovative aesthetic outcomes developed from it. In addition, this paper contributes to evaluate the qualitative connections between construction, geography and labour, assessing the friction between the advanced products and knowledge imported from the North and the agricultural vocation of these regions. The paper will also put in relation the development of prefabrication systems in the less-developed South of Italy in the wider context of the great industrialization boosted by political decisions and state financial helps of “Cassa del Mezzogiorno”.

A reckoning with the maintenance of the built environment, a Sisyphean task

Maria Luisa Germanà — 2023-05-11

Maintenance concerns most of the artifacts, referring simultaneously to the socio-cultural, technical and managerial spheres. Contemporary scenarios impose an overall rethinking, where key-topics such as tradition, consumerism, sustainability and digitization become pivotal in the search for suitable production models, between post-industrial and neo-craftsmanship, in order to have fresher references for the maintenance activities.

In the construction field, maintenance is not limited to the objective of prolonging the duration of quality levels that only affect direct users, but also has important implications of a social and collective nature, in the case of both public and private buildings and spaces. Despite this and other specific features, the parallelism between building maintenance and manufacturing maintenance was fundamental in the last quarter of the 20^thcentury, when the subject made its way into the technological culture of architecture, in search of references that could replace pre-industrial habits.

In support of the theoretical rethinking of maintenance (an activity which, like the Sisyphean task, does never foresee a definitive completion), the article suggests some considerations referring in particular to the reinforced concrete: a structural material almost omnipresent in the built environment since the second half of the last century, which poses significant problems in terms of duration and not only. In conclusion, some possible developments are presented, distinguishing between newly constructed and existing reinforced concrete constructions.

The Olivetti of Zanuso among project, process, and product

Giuliana Di Mari — 2023-05-11

During the years of post-war reconstruction in Italy, the project represented an instrument of revenge on the ruins inherited from the war and industry seemed to be the answer to the needs of a society that was rebuilding itself. The bond between project and industry thus spreads to all sectors of artistic production and the common thread is the use of words borrowed from the world of industry, thus raising the phenomenon of industrialisation.

Olivetti’s experience is placed in this scenario, characterised by his interest beyond the factory, aimed at architectural, urban planning, cultural, publishing, and political issues. The Olivetti ideal focuses on aspects ranging from the typewriter to the city. The best architects work for Olivetti, and among them is Marco Zanuso. The factory is the topos of the project, in which theories of building industrialisation are synthesised. Zanuso experiments with the material’s potential to address issues related to the factory; in the reinforced concrete, he discovers the possibility of rationalising the composition process. Thus, the structure finds the perfect balance between technique and expressive language, generating space, light, form, and function. The beam-pillar system, an ideal synthesis of the architecture for Olivetti in Argentina and Brazil, discloses the capacity to conceive space as a single entity, in which the recognisability of the construction system becomes the identifying key of the factory itself.

Nested-building as an effective strategy for the reuse of reinforced concrete industrial buildings. The case of the ex-Manifattura Tabacchi factory in Verona (1930-65)

Angelo Bertolazzi — 2023-05-11

Nested buildings today represent an efficient alternative to traditional recovery interventions in terms of cost-effectiveness, sustainability and compatibility with the existing building. The Italian territory has many disused industrial buildings on which it is necessary to operate with new recovery and re-market strategies. This article presents the results of the research, currently in progress, carried out by the ICEA department (University of Padua). The research concerns the recovery of industrial buildings in reinforced concrete from the 20th century. In these buildings the prefabrication allows a considerable optimization of the recovery interventions focused on modularity and prefabrication to fasten the construction times together with flexibility and reversibility. The analysis of the functional, structural and construction types made it possible to identify general intervention criteria which – as the identification of the average span dimensions – led to two design scenarios of wooden housing modules, following nested-building strategy. After a phase of study and critical analysis, criteria and guidelines for intervention were identified which – as the identification of the average span dimensions – led to two design scenarios of wooden housing modules, following nested-building strategy. The ex-Manifattura Tabacchi factory in Verona was chosen as a case study on which the results of the research were tested.

Understanding the structures of Pier Luigi Nervi: a multidisciplinary approach

Erica Lenticchia — 2023-05-11

The paper describes the strategies adopted to carry out the knowledge campaign on Hall C built by Pier Luigi Nervi at Torino Esposizioni, between 1949 and 1950, and belonging to the architectural heritage of the 20th century. The structure was built by combining reinforced concrete and ferrocement elements, thus implementing what for Nervi would later become the distinctive construction system of his artwork, which combined the use of precast in situ and cast-in-place elements.

The extensive review of the historical documentation allowed the identification of the distinctive features and material differences of all structural elements in order to formulate the least invasive testing campaign possible, combining sample extraction with non-destructive testing. The paper aims to illustrate the problems and challenges associated with the creation of interpretive models of the built heritage through the relationship between historical critical investigations and structural diagnosis and is intended to serve as an example for an appropriate phase of investigation aimed at developing guidelines for the conservation of a complex and iconic work.

Evaluation of key aggregate parameters on the properties of ordinary and high strength concretes

Andrés Salas-Montoya — 2023-05-11

This paper reports the results of a study conducted to determine the influence of coarse aggregate type on the workability, compressive strength, and flexural strength of normal and high strength concretes with target 28-day compressive strengths of 30 and 60 MPa and two water/cement ratios of 0.44 and 0.27. The concretes were prepared using four types of natural coarse aggregates, namely diabase, calcareous, river gravel, and basalt, with maximum particle sizes of 12.7 and 19.1 millimeters. Silica fume was added to the high-strength concretes at a replacement ratio to Portland cement of 10% by mass. The results showed that among all aggregates, basaltic aggregate with a maximum particle size of 12.7 millimeters produced concrete with the highest compressive and flexural strength, followed by limestone and river aggregate, indicating that particle size, surface texture, structure and mineralogical composition play a dominant role in the behavior of concretes, especially high strength concretes. Normal strength concretes showed similar compressive strengths, while the concrete containing limestone gave slightly higher strength. These results show that for a given water/cementitious material ratio, the influence of the type of coarse aggregate on the compressive strength of the concrete is more important for high strength concrete than for normal strength concrete.

Mix design of durable concrete with the additions of silica fume or fly ash

Renato Iovino — 2023-05-11

The aim of the research is the laboratory study of a durable concrete, according to UNI-EN 206-1 and 11104, comparing four types of concrete by varying the type of binder to highlight some aspects of durability. For each type of concrete, to graph the correlations between: W/C ratio - resistance; cement dosage - strength; days of ripening-resistance; three mixes were packaged by varying the W/C ratio and the cement dosage. Three durable concretes were then designed, by way of example, with resistance class C30/37, exposure class XS1, workability class S5, maximum diameter 20 mm, by varying the type of binder to enhance some aspects of durability:

- Type 1) With Portland II-A-LL 32.5 R cement

- Type 2) With Portland II-A-LL 32.5 R cement + 11% silica fume

- Type 3) With Portland II-A-LL 32.5 R cement + 22% fly ash.

A cost analysis was then conducted for the concretes type 1), 2), 3), to highlight the incidence of additions in the concrete, and the benefits in terms of mechanical resistance to compression.

HBIM tools for knowledge, maintenance and conservation of concrete built heritage

Rosa Agliata — 2023-05-11

In the 20th century, reinforced concrete was one of the most popular building materials. It was formerly regarded as a material of outstanding durability and resilience, but over the past 50 years, it has revealed severe fundamental flaws. Main weaknesses of concrete include susceptibility to chemical agents and degradation brought on by poor design and construction. As a result, restoration interventions, recovery efforts, and re-functionalization of these artifacts have progressively grown in recent decades. Only when these improvements are combined with ongoing maintenance are they effective in extending the life of the structure. The most accurate knowledge of the building and all of its components can improve the efficiency of maintenance and recovery actions.

Recently, the use of BIM tools for reinforced concrete buildings is spreading more and more, going beyond new construction to include built heritage. A BIM model of an existing asset may be used to assess the building's condition of conservation, pinpoint any issues, and assess the alternatives available for repair and conservation while projecting the impact of the adjustments on the structure. This data may be used to plan maintenance and restoration activities, track the building's condition of conservation through time, and assess the effects of any alterations on the structure.

In this work, a workflow for "reverse engineering", enabling the creation of an HBIM model of an existing building, is proposed and then applied to a case study building.

This technique may be regarded as a watershed moment in the management of reinforced concrete structures since it simplifies and organizes all of the information needed to preserve the existing architectural heritage while utilizing available resources.