The Fiat architectural heritage, whose construction in the twentieth century by Italian engineers and architects, is very extensive and has not yet been completely examined. The collaboration between Fiat and Nervi is a topic that has been investigated by Italian architectural historians, but not by construction history scholars. The essay investigates this theme that is representative of an important part of the Italian industrial architecture heritage, useful to study the national context during the Fifties, with particular reference to building industrialization. The survey is advanced by the author through largely unpublished photos and archive drawings. The work analysed in this essay is the complex known as the first expansion of the Officine Principali Mirafiori (1954), the structure of which was designed and built by Nervi and Bartoli company. The investigation relates the case both to the other projects curated by Nervi for Fiat and to the Italian cultural frame. The expansion plan of 1954 started by the modular layout of the existing factory (built in 1936-39). The roof, organized on a series of on-site prefabricated reinforced concrete trusses, is the most interesting part of the new factory, while the organization of the construction yard is the main design and construction theme of the building process. In order to comply with the construction times established by the client, Nervi adopted a working method that also distinguished some of the subsequent Fiat projects (the New North Extension of the Officine Principali and the raised water reservoir in Mirafiori, the Cromo factory in Venaria Reale, near Turin). The engineer organized a prefabrication construction yard inside the traditional building site, correlating construction times and tools on-site with the rhythms and techniques of prefabricated production. In this approach he directed the experience reached over the years together with Nervi and Bartoli. The original solutions developed in Mirafiori were part of the evolution that accompanied the Italian construction landscape towards the modernization period between the 1950s and 1960s.
Il patrimonio architettonico di Fiat, alla cui realizzazione nel XX secolo hanno concorso ingegneri ed architetti italiani, è molto esteso e ancora poco studiato. La collaborazione tra l’ufficio tecnico Fiat e Nervi è un argomento trattato negli studi di storia dell’architettura italiana, ma poca attenzione ha finora ricevuto nell’ambito delle ricerche sulla storia delle costruzioni del Novecento. Lo studio amplia le conoscenze su questo tema in quanto rappresentativo di una parte importante del patrimonio italiano di architettura industriale. L’indagine è condotta dall’autore attraverso foto e disegni d’archivio, in larga parte ancora inediti. Oggetto dell’analisi è il complesso noto come primo ampliamento delle Officine Principali di Mirafiori (1954), di cui l’impresa Nervi e Bartoli progetta e realizza la struttura. Il caso è considerato con riferimento al lavoro complessivo sviluppato da Nervi per la Fiat e tenendo conto del quadro culturale italiano del tempo. Il progetto di ampliamento del 1954 tiene conto dello schema planimetrico modulare della fabbrica esistente (20x20 metri). La copertura è la parte di maggiore interesse costruttivo del nuovo edificio. Essa è organizzata su una serie di capriate in calcestruzzo armato prefabbricate a terra. L’organizzazione del cantiere (in termini di tempi, attrezzature, materiali) costituisce l’aspetto rilevante della vicenda progettuale e costruttiva di questo edificio. Nervi, per rispettare i tempi di costruzione dettati dalla committenza, introduce nel cantiere un metodo di lavoro che distingue anche alcuni dei successivi progetti Fiat (il Nuovo Ampliamento Nord delle Officine Principali, il Serbatoio sopraelevato, la fabbrica Cromo a Venaria). Il progettista organizza un cantiere nel cantiere, correlando tempi e strumenti della costruzione in opera con ritmi e tecniche della produzione prefabbricata, convogliando in questa visione l’esperienza maturata negli anni insieme alla Nervi e Bartoli.
Pier Luigi Nervi and Fiat. The expansion of Officine Mirafiori in Turin
Greco, Laura
2018-01-01
Abstract
The Fiat architectural heritage, whose construction in the twentieth century by Italian engineers and architects, is very extensive and has not yet been completely examined. The collaboration between Fiat and Nervi is a topic that has been investigated by Italian architectural historians, but not by construction history scholars. The essay investigates this theme that is representative of an important part of the Italian industrial architecture heritage, useful to study the national context during the Fifties, with particular reference to building industrialization. The survey is advanced by the author through largely unpublished photos and archive drawings. The work analysed in this essay is the complex known as the first expansion of the Officine Principali Mirafiori (1954), the structure of which was designed and built by Nervi and Bartoli company. The investigation relates the case both to the other projects curated by Nervi for Fiat and to the Italian cultural frame. The expansion plan of 1954 started by the modular layout of the existing factory (built in 1936-39). The roof, organized on a series of on-site prefabricated reinforced concrete trusses, is the most interesting part of the new factory, while the organization of the construction yard is the main design and construction theme of the building process. In order to comply with the construction times established by the client, Nervi adopted a working method that also distinguished some of the subsequent Fiat projects (the New North Extension of the Officine Principali and the raised water reservoir in Mirafiori, the Cromo factory in Venaria Reale, near Turin). The engineer organized a prefabrication construction yard inside the traditional building site, correlating construction times and tools on-site with the rhythms and techniques of prefabricated production. In this approach he directed the experience reached over the years together with Nervi and Bartoli. The original solutions developed in Mirafiori were part of the evolution that accompanied the Italian construction landscape towards the modernization period between the 1950s and 1960s.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
