The Engineer's Aesthetic - V1

David Stephen

History III Fall 2022 Professor Morshed

THE ENGINEER’S AESTHETIC Adapting Pilotis in the Aeronautical Style

David Stephen

The Engineer’s Aesthetic - Adapting Pilotis in the Aeronautical Style

11/17/22

Foreword: “A good architect is someone capable of seeing the main problems of a design, capable of examining with serenity the various possible solutions, and who finally has a thorough grasp of the technical means necessary to accomplish his project. I like reinforced concrete because in it we find all the static, plastic, and structural characteristics of all other materials and, at the same time, it offers almost unlimited and not yet explored possibilities.” 1 – Pier Luigi Nervi

Introduction – The Problem of Plasticity Few books in the modern era have been more influential on the design community than Le Corbusier’s Towards a New Architecture published in 1923. Through reevaluating antiquity alongside the recent industrial inventions of mechanized ships, automobiles, and airplanes the ideological designer was highlighting a dichotomy that existed in the built world between the flourishing technological practices of engineers and the diminishing role of architects as artists. In proposing an engineer’s aesthetic that originates from natural law and governed by mathematical calculation, he implores the architectural community to design with “plastic emotion” as architecture is a “pure creation of the spirit”. Although this message to “not forget the problem of architecture” 2 was directed at architects, no designer better harmonized building art, science, and craft than the engineer and builder Pier Luigi Nervi. This paper will demonstrate how Nervi progressed the artistic application of Le Corbusier’s pilotis thru primarily technical processes to create a truly architectural engineer’s aesthetic formulated on similar principles of economy found in the aeronautical style.

Pier Luigi Nervi – The First Brutalist Pier Luigi Nervi was born in northern Italy in 1891 and at a young age showed an aptitude for mathematics and science as well as a fascination with aeronautics. It was these attributes that led him to study engineering at University of Bologna where a dynamic academic culture that combined traditional design, modern technology and the applied arts would shape his later design approach. 3 Nervi lived during a pivotal time in the building industry, born a year after Francois Hennebique filed his first patent for his pioneering steel reinforced concrete building system, working his first job after graduation at the Concrete Construction Licensing Society in Italy, his life became inextricably intertwined with this modern material. As steel was not a domestic resource in Italy at the time, his designs for abstract concrete structures flourished in the economic market of the 1920’s. Although his 1 Peter, John. The Oral History of Modern Architecture : Interviews with the Greatest Architects of the Twentieth Century. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1994. p31 2 Le Corbusier. Towards a New Architecture. 1st paperback ed., Architectural Press, 1970. The Engineer Aesthetic and Architecture. P13-20 3 Leslie, Thomas. Beauty’s Rigor : Patterns of Production in the Work of Pier Luigi Nervi. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2017. Chapter 1

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David Stephen

The Engineer’s Aesthetic - Adapting Pilotis in the Aeronautical Style

11/17/22

early work focused on the structurally centric typologies of aircraft hangers, warehouses, and industrial parks, he embraced the plasticity of concrete as an architectural medium and used his intuitive understanding of statics to shape the aesthetics of his projects. “I saw again how a purely technical process also brought aesthetic results and suggested promising architectural directions”. 4 To this point in his career, Nervi seemed to be exuding the harmonious economy Le Corbusier assigned to the engineer in all regards by creating affordable, functional, and resilient designs, but he harbored inexorable ambitions to answer the architectural call.

Unesco Headquarters Paris – Changing Béton Armé from Brut to Apparent Nervi would finally obtain the opportunity to highlight the plastic qualities of reinforced concrete on the global stage with the design of the Unesco Headquarters in Paris beginning in 1952. Although design of this globally prominent complex was entrusted to Marcel Bruer and Bernard Zehrfuss in addition to Nervi, with oversight by a committee that included Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, he had significant influence on the exposed concrete structure and its architectural expression as a centerpiece of this building’s aesthetic.

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The unusual, angled pilotis at the Unesco Secretariat, with varying elliptical cross sections which flare to cantilevered ends, are a dramatic reinterpretation of the girthy concrete pilotis Le Corbusier had recently established for beton brut at Unite d’Habitacion in Marseilles (a structure which Nervi had visited). 7 Nervi achieved the nuanced design by identification of problems with modern formwork

4 Billington, David P. The Tower and the Bridge : the New Art of Structural Engineering. Princeton, New Jersey ;: Princeton University Press, 2022. Chaper 10, p180 5 Paris: UNESCO: Ext.: Headquarters https://libraryartstororg.proxycu.wrlc.org 6 https://architectuul.com/architecture/unesco-building 7 Gargiani, Roberto, Alberto Bologna, and Juliet Haydock. The Rhetoric of Pier Luigi Nervi : Concrete and Ferrocement Forms. Translated by Juliet Haydock. Lausanne, Switzerland: EPFL Press, 2016.

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David Stephen

The Engineer’s Aesthetic - Adapting Pilotis in the Aeronautical Style

11/17/22

practices, and invention of custom sized collars to connect straight board formwork to create subtle contours.

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The design of these pilotis, although delicate with their gradual curvature, wide angles, and pointed tops, was in fact derived out of an engineering necessity. Like Unite, the ground floor was intended to be free between the pilotis with no transverse walls interrupting the space. For the building to resist lateral wind forces while supported on column points, the soft story condition needed to be addressed. The minor angle of the pilotis from base to top as well as the inward haunch which forms the column head all act to provide this required lateral resistance. 9 Nervi had identified the problem of the soft story designed into Le Corbusier’s five points with the open ground floor, and using a technical process resolved this flaw inherent to all pilotis systems through architecturally focused engineering and what he would often call “conscious aesthetic intention”.

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Section Comparison - Pilotis and 2nd floor Systems: Unite Habitacion (left) vs Unesco HQ Paris (right)

https://architectureofdoom.tumblr.com/post/13682996881/unesco-headquarters-paris-marcel-breuerpier Nervi, Pier Luigi, Thomas Leslie, Elisabetta Margiotta Nervi, and Cristiana Chiorino. Aesthetics and Technology in Building. The Twenty-FirstCentury Edition. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2018. P126-128 10 Stephen, David. Axonometric Sections of Pilotis and Floor Systems from Unite d’Habitacion and Unesco Paris. Drawn on an Ipad. 2022.

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David Stephen

The Engineer’s Aesthetic - Adapting Pilotis in the Aeronautical Style

11/17/22

This signifies a keystone of his personal philosophy of aesthetics: that technical processes can inspire novel architectural forms. The pilotis at the Secretariat building give clarity to the flow of static forces, which not only add functionalism by decreasing obstructions but create an original architectural detail that exudes craftsmanship in its intention and execution.

However, this is not to say that engineering alone will create authentic architectural forms, rather “that statics offers in each and every case a definite direction, but that the detailing of forms and their interrelationships is a personal choice” 11. Towards a New Architecture almost suggests to the reader that engineers are given surer paths to their harmonious design conclusions, but even Le Corbusier does acknowledge that the engineer “has his own Aesthetic, for he must, in making his calculations, qualify some of the terms for his equation; and it is here that taste intervenes.” 12 How engineering is to be applied, the assumed limits and parameters of the materials chosen, the tested information available, and even personal risk aversion capacity all play into the form and aesthetic result of a technically derived design, and herein lies the potential for great architecture.

Pirelli Skyscraper Milan – Incalculable Structural Integration and Conscious Intention In an answer to Italy’s ambitions to compete architecturally with the aspiring heights being achieved in America, Nervi provided the structural foresight to realize Gio Ponti’s design for the Pirelli skyscraper in Milan, completed the same year as Unesco Paris in 1958. This architectural vision of a tall, narrow tower with a free glass façade on the broad sides of the “wing” required reinforced concrete cores to act collaboratively as a rigid system never before attempted. To prove the feasibility of Nervi’s structural intuition a realistic 1:10 scale building model, nearly 40’ tall, was constructed and statically tested. The model performed better than the theoretical calculations as the complex interplay between the eight structural systems Nervi implemented could not fully be captured in the simplified mathematics. 13 This is another example of the intuitive approach Nervi took to his designs which often worked outside the capabilities of mathematical models which can only prove their merit through the reality of a physical testing.

Nervi, Pier Luigi, Thomas Leslie, Elisabetta Margiotta Nervi, and Cristiana Chiorino. Aesthetics and Technology in Building. The Twenty-FirstCentury Edition. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2018. P126 12 Le Corbusier. Towards a New Architecture. New York: Dover Publications, 1986. P15 13 Nervi, Pier Luigi, Thomas Leslie, Elisabetta Margiotta Nervi, and Cristiana Chiorino. Aesthetics and Technology in Building. The Twenty-FirstCentury Edition. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2018. P134-136 11

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The Engineer’s Aesthetic - Adapting Pilotis in the Aeronautical Style

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The at-grade auditorium of the Pirelli project would afford Nervi another opportunity to create new architectural forms using the plasticity of reinforced concrete. Nervi again reinterpreted the Corbusien pilotis form as well as their structural relationships within their created free space. The pilotis have a similar taper to the Unesco species, however rather than a column head haunch the entire piloti turns radially against the terracotta floor and is cast monolithically into beams which fork and taper as they span the width of the auditorium to the opposing columns. The simple configuration of this beam layout is not only structurally efficient but creates a unique, accordion like space where the structure is the architectural character.

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Ponti, Giovanni 1891-1979; Fornaroli, Antonio; Rosselli, Alberto 1921-1976; Vatolina, Giuseppe; Dell'Orta, Egidio; Nervi, Pier Luigi 1891-1979; Danusso, A.. 1956-1958, Image: 1965. Pirelli Building, View Description: Northeast view, from Piazza Duca d'Aosta.

15 Iori, Tullia., and Pier Luigi. Nervi. Pier Luigi Nervi. 1. ed. Milano: Motta architettura, 2009.

16 Stephen, David. Structural Site plan of Pirelli Tower (blue) and Auditorium Pilotis System (red). Drawn on an Ipad 2022.

17 https://www.fondazionepirelli.org 14

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David Stephen

The Engineer’s Aesthetic - Adapting Pilotis in the Aeronautical Style

11/17/22

This pilotis and beams design was a choice, arrived at by following the natural flow of forces, intuitively shaping the structure using an understanding of the statics to find positive economy between construction techniques and the design requirement of aesthetics. Nervi certainly upheld the idea Le Corbusier put forward regarding the engineer’s capability to harmonize elements external to architectural expression such as budget and constructability, with his personal philosophy encompassing the “functional, technical, and economic essence of structural architectures.” These conditions he considered “necessary and sufficient” to achieve a visually appealing result which conveyed what he believed was the “mysterious connection between the laws of physics and aesthetic sensibility.” 18

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18 Perugini, P. & Andreani, Stefano. (2013). Pier luigi nervi's columns: Flow of lines and forces. Journal of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures. 54. 137-148.

19 https://eventi.regione.lombardia.it/grattacielo-pirelli 20 http://www.arcvision.org/pirelli-tower/?lang=en

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David Stephen

The Engineer’s Aesthetic - Adapting Pilotis in the Aeronautical Style

11/17/22

Conclusion – Aesthetics Entangled in the Modern Technical Design Process Nervi became a leader of architectural thought that was deeply concerned with the architectural education program and the artistic and scientific division within the building community. Almost in an analytical response to Le Corbusier’s edification of the modern automobile, ship, and airplane made 50 years prior, Nervi provided his own analysis of historic coaches and sailing vessels to demonstrate the validity of these ornamented structures based on changing tastes and the limited aerodynamic demands of the time. In an analysis of the evolution of the modern airplane typology he demonstrates how experimental research and the economies required of high-speed travel created a unified aeronautical style, while their designers’ technically nuanced choices still achieve varied forms with successful visual effects. This principle of practical economies which create artistic expression was now inherent and everlasting in design process of the technological age, and it is how he approached his architecture to achieve an engineer’s aesthetic. “How can we help but be struck by the thought that it is precisely our age that has found the direction which mankind will never be able to abandon?” Nervi questioned. 21

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Afterword: “Yet history of the twentieth-century structural engineer does not follow a linear progression, mainly because the laws of nature must interact with – locally based – aesthetics. It is not a question of one development leading directly to another and so on, but rather of parallel ideas arising in different societies and then flowering in ways that reflect the particular patterns of those societies as well as the general laws of nature.” 22 … “I still remember the long and patient work to find an agreement between the static necessities…and the desire to obtain something which for me would have a satisfying appearance.” 23 -Pier Luigi Nervi

21 Nervi, Pier Luigi, Thomas Leslie, Elisabetta Margiotta Nervi, and Cristiana Chiorino. Aesthetics and Technology in Building. The Twenty-FirstCentury Edition. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2018. P134-136 22 Billington, David P. The Tower and the Bridge : the New Art of Structural Engineering, Princeton University Press, 2022. Chaper 10, p171 23 Billington, David P. The Tower and the Bridge : the New Art of Structural Engineering, Princeton University Press, 2022. Chaper 10, p178

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David Stephen

The Engineer’s Aesthetic - Adapting Pilotis in the Aeronautical Style

11/17/22

Annotated Bibliography 1.

Le Corbusier. Towards a New Architecture. Architectural Press, 1970. The Engineer Aesthetic and Architecture.

This book provides an insightful analysis of architecture from antiquity, the modern technological advancements of the time, as well as social issues which relate to the current architectural trends leading into 1923. In an attempt to define the essence of architecture as separate from the technical processes of engineer’s the author argues a reevaluation of our design principles need to be considered. The author is an architect, urban planner and writer of ideological subjects relating to the field of design. This book is very useful in understanding the history of modern architecture and the changes the design profession underwent as a result of the industrial revolution.

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Nervi, Pier Luigi, Thomas Leslie, Elisabetta Margiotta Nervi, and Cristiana Chiorino. Aesthetics and Technology in Building. The Twenty-First-Century Edition. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2018.

This book written by the Pier Luigi Nervi himself was an expansion on his ideas from 1961 Norton Lectures at Harvard and provides analyzes various functional and construction problems encountered in the design of groundbreaking concrete structures which are case studied. Essay’s written by colleagues and protegees of Nervi expand on many topics in-depth. The author provides his own design philosophy regarding demands for economy, technical and functional reliability, and their correlation to aesthetic results. The author is a structural engineer, builder, self-taught architect, and writer.

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Gargiani, Roberto, Alberto Bologna, and Juliet Haydock. The Rhetoric of Pier Luigi Nervi : Concrete and Ferrocement Forms. Translated by Juliet Haydock. Lausanne, Switzerland: EPFL Press, 2016.

This book is an in-depth chronical of the life and work of Pier Luigi Nervi, with extensive analysis of each technological advancement he made in reinforced concrete (precast and in situ) throughout his entire career. The extensively breaks down the life of Nervi into their project and technical typologies to provide a complete history of his life as a builder and more importantly an ingenious inventor that harmonized material sciences and their architectural applications. Author Garagiani is an architectural historian and professor, while author Bologna is a practicing architect as well as architectural professor.

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Leslie, Thomas. Beauty’s Rigor: Patterns of Production in the Work of Pier Luigi Nervi. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2017.

This book analyzes the construction and technical methods used by Nervi and their ingrained patterns within his structures based on this practical approach. The achieved aesthetics are reviewed in depth as well as their historical context relating to other contemporaneous architects. It includes many informative pictures as well as drawings and diagrams of Nervi’s work. The Author is an architect and writer, an an inducted fellow of the American Institute of Architects.

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Billington, David P. The Tower and the Bridge : the New Art of Structural Engineering. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2022.

The book explores the designs of engineered structures and the aesthetics achieved in creation of a new artform. Starting with cases such as the Eiffel Tower and Brooklyn bridge, it provides a complete overview of the fundamentals of engineered design and its visual progression based on technical decisions. A wide range of designers (including Nervi), project categories, and material typologies are reviewed to

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David Stephen

The Engineer’s Aesthetic - Adapting Pilotis in the Aeronautical Style

11/17/22

demonstrate the intrinsic art and unifying elements of the engineer’s aesthetic. The author is a professor of structural engineering, scholar of structural art and writer or numerous publications.

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Perugini, P. & Andreani, Stefano. (2013). Pier Luigi Nervi’s Columns: Flow of Lines and Forces. Journal of the International Association for Shell and Spatial Structures. 54. 137-148.

This paper provides a study and analysis on the various column forms create by Nervi. The complexities of the technical designs are discussed in relation to their static considerations which created the articulated geometries. Nervi’s design relation to organic forms and the work of Gaudi are proposed in comparison of the achieved aesthetics. The authors are students and researchers of design at Harvard University and Cambridge University.

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Peter, John. The Oral History of Modern Architecture: Interviews with the Greatest Architects of the Twentieth Century. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1994.

This book provides the transcribed thoughts with prolific modern architects from interviews that were conducted between 1952 and 1989. The work and careers of architects such Wright, Corbusier, Mies, Gropius, Ero Saarien, Kahn, Johns, Neimeyer, Sert and Pei are reviewed, and opinions provided from those and many more designers (including Nervi) on the topics of technology, art, and society. The book comes with a CD of the interviews which brings to life the voices of those who created modern architecture. The Author spent a career interviewing the world’s leading designers to create this extensive volume.

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