The UNESCO headquarters in Paris. The Pirelli skyscraper in Milan. The
Palazzetto dello Sport in Rome. The "soaring beauty" of Pier Luigi
Nervi's visionary designs and buildings changed cityscapes in the
twentieth century. His uncanny ingenuity with reinforced concrete,
combined with a gift for practical problem solving, revolutionized the
use of open internal space in structures like arenas and concert halls.
Aesthetics and Technology in Building: The Twenty-First-Century
Edition introduces Nervi's ideas about architecture and engineering to
a new generation of students and admirers. More than 200 photographs,
details, drawings, and plans show how Nervi put his ideas into practice.
Expanding on the seminal 1961 Norton Lectures at Harvard, Nervi analyzes
various functional and construction problems. He also explains how
precast and cast-in-place concrete can answer demands for economy,
technical and functional soundness, and aesthetic perfection.
Throughout, he uses his major projects to show how these now-iconic
buildings emerged from structural truths and far-sighted construction
processes.
This new edition features dozens of added images, a new introduction,
and essays by Joseph Abram, Roberto Einaudi, Alberto Bologna, Gabriele
Neri, and Hans-Christian Schink on Nervi's life, work, and legacy.
