Pier Luigi Nervi

Last modified: 02/03/2010 09:46 PM Print page

Pier Luigi Nervi - his buildings today

For a long period of time I am fascinated by the works of Pier Luigi Nervi, a famous Italian engineer (1891 - 1979). During a sabbatical leave in the year 2000 I visited a great number of his buildings mainly situated in Italy and documented the present state of the structures. In the following years the research was extended to almost all of the existing buildings around the world.

During this course of investigation I visited the national Italian archive of modern art and architecture (CSAC), which is part of the University of Parma. As a result of these contacts the official partnership was established between the departments of architecture in Parma and Biberach.

Prof. Peter Häußermann

Attached file:

PH_Nervi_engl.pdf 1.34 Mb (preview) (printable version)

From "Ferrocemento to Vetrocemento"

It´s not a totally new idea!

Pier Luigi Nervi (Italian engineer 1891 - 1979) developed an economic way to produce complicated moulds for concrete structures which he called "Ferrocemento".

Today there exist new materials (e.g. glass fibre reinforcement) and methods of treatment and processing (e.g. CNC) of these moulds for concrete constructions.

Why not use the ingenious idea of Nervi and "update" it?

The research project therefore is called: from "Ferrocemento (steel reinforced concrete) to Vetrocemento (glass fibre reinforced concrete)" .

Prof. Peter Häußermann