Technical manuals in the years of Reconstruction after World War II in Italy: Mario Ridolfi and the “Manuale dell’Architetto"

The debate on the role of construction techniques in post-World War Il Reconstruction in ltaly was articulated between advanced positions proposing the renewal and industrialization ofbuilding processes and positions closer to more settled, and perhaps traditional, construction techniques. The latter positions, widespread in the area of Rome, proposed the creation of a typology of constructional elements to be disseminated through manuals, such as the 1946 "Manuale del/ 'Architetto" with Mario Ridolfi as editor-in-chief. This paper investigates the contribution provided by this manual to the post-war reconstruction effort and to Italian architectural design culture, questioning how the creation of the typology conveyed in the manual was able to strengthen and spread specific construction techniques that, eventually, led to a recognizable architectural canon diffused throughout the entire national territory.