Afterword. Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd D. Thomas, Masters of the Structural Aesthetic, DOI /

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1 Afterword Modern day individualism and eclectic trends in architecture, particularly in the developed world, have tended to resort to exhibitionistic solutions, choosing to give expression to experiential environments, even narcissism and, in some instances, buildings that are alienated from rational design. Invariably it can be the patrons who indulge in fanciful and extravagant prestige buildings and play a role by encouraging architects to strut their stuff. From prehistory to the present day, architecture has meant shelter and amenity for humankind to survive and to conduct life creatively, spiritually and with fulfilment. The main stem of architecture is a remarkable history of imagination, however, there is an indulgent imbalance when contemporary work is placed alongside past periods. Traditional vernacular architecture, mostly of pre-industrial times, invariably got it right where, with relatively limited means, extraordinary creative enterprise produced architecture often of the most distinctive character and ingenuity in the creation of shelter. Manual labour and crafts, materials, and technical and technological expertise either constrained or furthered the ambitions of those who commissioned the work or were responsible for crafting it. Inspiring examples are found in both urban and rural situations around the world where functionality, shelter, security and status were expressed in the vernacular, suggesting again the potential for the aesthetic in architecture to be achieved through honesty without the concealment of cladding or the membrane of the ubiquitous glass curtain wall, and without the greater dependence on energyconsuming means for the comfort of the occupants. Despite the demonstrated time-saving, economical, and aesthetic capabilities of ferro-cement in construction, since Pier Luigi Nervi its potential in contemporary work has not been fully explored. Computer-aided technology and structural innovations have encouraged a new value system often in contrast to how honest architecture is made. The challenge for the future lies within the power of architects and structural engineers to work in unison with digital technologists, resource economists and other relevant disciplines to write holistic briefs for their work, for the return to honest architecture and indeed to exploit the potential of the structural aesthetic meaningfully. Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd D. Thomas, Masters of the Structural Aesthetic, DOI /

2 124 Afterword Meanwhile, until such time as the training of the complete architect can be achieved, good results can be obtained through the sincere collaboration of many people, each contributing the specific knowledge lacked by others. Architect, Engineer, Constructor can in this way bring about that union of art and science that is necessary to the solution of any constructional problem. To deal with the even more ambitious architectural projects of the near future, the architect must possess and synthesise in himself aesthetic sensibility, profound understanding of structural needs, and a precise knowledge of methods, possibilities and limitations of constructional techniques. (Nervi 1955) In today s world, with unprecedented population growth and the unsatiable demand on resources, there is shrinking space for extravagant architectural design. With challenge of sustainability haunting modern life, architects should be reflecting on the historical legacies of the past, in order to understand the essence as to why certain architectural typologies have endured and have past the test of sustainable building design. Roman and Gothic structures stand out in terms of both their durability as well as their sustainable functionality. Modern structures have a hard act to follow, considering the avenues of individuality and indulgences that have become the hallmark across a wide spectrum globally. In considering fanciful trends in the Western world, as well as in terms of global architectural evolution as a whole, Sir Banister Fletcher, an accepted authority on the history of architecture, postulated that the nineteenth century was an era of revivals of past styles but that individual architects are unlikely to return to any one systematised style. Nevertheless, architecture still continues to reflect the thought of the day, the needs and aspirations of the people, and is an index of the social forces at work... (Fletcher 1948). Added to the social forces, in the 21st Century, technological advances in all spheres will irrevocably augment the purely social influence on architectural design. A greater reliance on the predominance of the structural aesthetic, rather than on embellishment or exhibitionism purely for experiential pleasure, could be key where architecture becomes an honest response to the determinants outlined in the chapters of this book. A twenty-first century paradigm that is capable of building on the durable architecture of past eras suggests mitigation based on the constructs of recover, recycle, re-use and re-purpose that could contribute to longevity in architecture and be in keeping with the ethic of global responsibility. References Fletcher, B. (1948). The historical styles. Introduction 1. In A history of architecture on the comparative method (14th ed., p. 9). London: B.T. Batsford Ltd. Nervi, P. L. (1955, October 14). Notes from a lecture to organised by the Institution of Structural Engineers and Joint Committee on Structural Concrete at Friends Meeting House, Euston Road, London.

3 Notes: On Ferro-cement: Its Characteristics and Potentialities The manufacture of thin slabs of cement mortar reinforced with super-imposed layers of wire mesh and small diameter bars gives a product with a high degree of elasticity and resistance to cracking, and which does not require formwork. Nervi carried out experiments close on 17 years; he achieved results, found potentialities, proving the discovery of a material he called ferro-cemento The concept of this material is based on the elementary and familiar observation that the elasticity of a reinforced concrete member increases in proportion to the subdivision and distribution of the reinforcement throughout the mass. The richness of the mortar (800 kg of best quality cement to 1 m 3 of sand) allowed the units to be demoulded in either 2 or 3 days, according to the outside temperature. Lifting and placing of the units proceeded regularly and enable about 300 m 2 of roof to be completed each day. The construction would normally take place in three stages to get the fullest possible use from the movable formwork (Fig. A.1). The mortar is made with good quality sand, in proportions varying from kg of cement per cubic metre of sand. In this way very thin slabs were made which were exceptionally flexible and elastic and extremely strong. To increase the thickness and strength of the slabs without using more than layers of mesh, Nervi tried introducing between the layers of mesh on or more layers of bars of a diameter 6 mm, without losing the qualities of the material formed with the mesh alone. In every case the thickness of the finished prefabricated unit was only a very little greater than that of the assembled layers mesh, the difference bing only a much as was necessary to provide enough cover for the steel. The material obtained has very little in common with normal reinforced concrete, possessing the mechanical characteristics of completely homogeneous material. Its most important qualities are the great elasticity and resistance to cracking given to the cement mortar by the extreme subdivision and distribution of the reinforcement, and the fact that the mortar itself can be applied without the need for formwork and remains held perfectly in place by the mesh. Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd D. Thomas, Masters of the Structural Aesthetic, DOI /

4 126 Notes: On Ferro-cement: Its Characteristics and Potentialities Fig. A.1 Ferro-cement units. Detail cross-section of the typical ferro-cement units with finishing layers. The reinforcement in some cases consisted of 5 mm wire arranged in both directions and a double layer of mesh weighing just over 0.45 kg per 0.85 m 2. The top-most rings of the units have additional reinforcement in the form of 15.2 and 23 mm bars. The reinforcing wires project from the sides of the units and assist in uniting them structurally with the in situ concrete placed in channels between them and as a screed over the top. This in situ screed is further reinforced with 7.6 mm steel placed concentrically and radially. A plastic film sprayed onto the surface provides the waterproofing These characteristics opened up a number of interesting fields of application, among them naval work for building small ships. In 1943 more accurate experiments were carried out, some under the direction of Professor Martinelli. These experiments were aimed at drawing up data concerning the mechanical characteristics, the resistance to shock and the extensibility of slabs and samples of ferro-cement of different thicknesses and with different percentages of reinforcement. The shock resistance tests revealed not only the high strength of slabs of only 3 cm thick (a weight of 250 kg was dropped on to a sample 1.5 m 2, from different heights increasing approximately to 3 m), but also the fact that failure, when it occurred, did not consist in an actual hole in the structure, but rather a weakening of the wire mesh, a relatively dispersed breaking away of the mortar, the pieces of which still retained a certain cohesion, and a certain resistance to the passage of water. Several completely successful adaptations of ferro-cement to naval craft construction have been achieved. While these were being undertaken, in 1947 Prof Oberti started a new series of more accurate tests in the Polytechnic Laboratory in Milan, with the object of providing numerical data on the degree of extension without visible cracking obtainable with specimens of ferro-cement. These tests show the vital importance of the percentage of steel in relation to the concrete mass in obtaining maximum extension. With the layers of mesh giving a weight of steel of less than kg to the cubic metre the extensibility remained approximately the same as unreinforced mortar. With weights of kg there

5 Notes: On Ferro-cement: Its Characteristics and Potentialities 127 is a rapid increase in the extensibility, which went up five and more times the previous case. It is noteworthy that a weight of steel of about 500 kg to the cubic metre is obtained when the slab is only a few millimetres (just sufficient to cover the steel) thicker than the layers of mesh themselves, placed in contact with one another. This is the natural proportion of the method. Lower proportions may be obtained by increasing the thickness of the slab in relation to that of the steel, or by placing the layers of mesh further apart by means of spacing bars. The mechanical and constructional qualities become proportionally less as the steel proportion decreases. The outcome depends on the desired extensibility, a definite preponderance of the metal reinforcement over the cement mortar, and its all over distribution.

6 Index A Aesthetic discernment in art, 10 Aesthetic experiences, 8 Aesthetics and technology, 8, 75, 76, 78 Age of Impressionism, 31 Algerian vernacular architecture, 70 Algorithm, 34 André Maisonnier, 73 Anti-expressionist, 1 Anti-monumental monumentality, 85 Antoni Gaudi, viii, 3, 18, 19, 27 30, 47, 53, 64 69, 92, 109, Architectural imagery, 14 Architectural schemata, 74 Artificial Intelligence (AI), 36 Art Nouveau, 67 Arup, v, vi, 2, 28, Arup Sport, 2 B Basilica Church La Sagrada Familia, 65 Beton brut, 71 Biomimetic architecture, 26 Biomimetic materials, 37 Biomimetic studies, 4 Biophilia Hypothesis, 26 Biophilic design, 28 Bird s Nest, 2 Boldness of the dome, 62 Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1, 33 Briggs, J., patterns of chaos, 31 C Cardoso, 85 Catalonian language and culture, 19 Chapel of Notre-Dame du Haut in Ronchamp, 70 Chartres, Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, 2 Cité de Carcassonne, 51 Cognition, vii Cognitive associations, 1 Cognitive evaluation, 48 Collective mindset, 15 Community architecture, 19 Computer-aided design, 13, 35 Computer aid technology, vii Computor-empowering design tools, 36 Conditioned taste, vii Constantine, 21, 86 Contemporary cultural factors, 96 Context, 1, 9, 14 16, 19, 34, 48, 59, 74, 83, 86, 88, 96, 101 Contextual framework, 7 Criteria of merit, vi Cultural preference, 1 Cultural proclivity, vii Cultural software, 15 Cyberspace, 38, 39 D Design Museum of the Year, 101 Deutsche Werkbund, 22 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd D. Thomas, Masters of the Structural Aesthetic, DOI /

7 130 Index Digital design aids, vii, 47, 96 Discovery of concrete, 54 E Earth architecture, 48 Eero Saarinen, 87, 89, 94 Egyptian culture, 26 Egyptian period, 51 Elemental determinants, 4, 5, 47 Esoteric geometric shapes, 71 Essential determinants, viii Euclidian Geometry, 57 F Fake image, 2 Ferro-cement, 77, 79 81, 109, 114, 115, 118, 119 Fifth facade, 87 Filippo Brunelleschi, viii, 3, 47, 53, 59, Flambouyant rhetoric, vi Fluid flowing elements, 67 Flying buttress, 55 Form finding, 10, 35 Fractal geometrical, 4 Fractal geometry, 27 28, 57 Frank Gehry, 2 Freedom of expression, 22, 47 Free-flowing, sensuous curves, 82 Frei Otto, viii, 3, 22, 27, 30, 47, 53, Frozen motion, 2 G Generative algorithms, 5 Generative design software, 35 Generative models, 34 Germaine Greer, 73 Glass fibre-reinforced concrete, 24, 99 Golden Section, 13, 84 Gothic architect, 27, 55 Gothic architecture, 31, 56, 58 Gothic buildings, 55 Gothic masons, 21, 53, 56 Gothic master builder, 57 Greek Hellenic period, 51 Gridshell typologies, 35 Gunther Behnisch, 94 H Helicoids and parabolas, 3 Heydar Aliyev Centre, 95, 97 99, 101 High-tech architecture, 92, 97 Holistic, vii Hyberbolic cosine, 66 I Iconic architectural statement, 87 Industrial Revolution, 23, 24, 38 Inherent aesthetics, 8 Inherent beauty, 8, 25 Institution of Structural Engineers, 25 International Design Awards (IDA), 101 J J orn Utzon, viii, 3, 22, 27, 29, 30, 47, 53, K Kasbah, 49 Kazimir Malevich, 96 L Le Corbusier, viii, 3, 22, 47, 53, 70, 71, 73, vi Leon Battista Alberti, v, 74 Lorenzo Ghiberti, 59, 61 Lúcio Costa, 82, 83 M Malevich s Suprematist art works, 96 Malevich Tate Museum, 96 Mandelbrot s new geometry, 31 Maslow, 20 Massimo Ricci, 63, 111 Master builders of Africa, 48 Mathematical severity, 76 Melody in music is a theme, 33 Memetics, 15 Metaphoric interpretation, 29 Mies van der Rohe, 1 Milan Cathedral, 57, 58 Modern design idioms, 4 Modulor, 72, 73 Munich stadium for the Olympics of 1972, 93 Myth of meaningful forms, 12

8 Index 131 N National Congress Building, Bazil, 47, 82, 83 Nature, v, vii, 1, 2, 4, 7 9, 12, 13, 25 32, 34, 35, 37, 47, 57, 59, 65 68, 76, 88, 89, 92 95, 109, 112, 113, 120 Neo-Classical period, 27 Neuroscience, vii New form of social exclusion, 19 New liquid stone of our Age, 24 New trajectories, 7 Non-linear geometry, 3 O Optical correction, 52 Orders of Architecture, 26, 51 Oscar Niemeyer, vi, 53, 82 P Pantheon, 23, 53 55, 64 Paradigm shifts, vi, 7 Parametricism, 1, 34, 94, 97 Parthenon, 17, 52 Patrik Schumacher, 34, 100 Patron or client, 4, 17 Pazzi Chapel, 63 Persistence of styles, 97 Phenomenological perspective, 14 Phenomonological viewpoints, 4 Pier Luigi Nervi, vi, viii, 3, 22, 24, 25, 27, 47, 53, 74 82, 85, 87 90, 92, 109, , 118, 119, v Poetic finish, 24 Poetics, 5, 24, 71, 89 Political communicative tapestry, 17 Political dimension, 19 Prefabrication, 78, 115 Pritzker Architecture Prize, 87, 95, 100 Properties of fractal design, 31 Q Quality of timelessness, 17 R Radiolaria micro-organisms, 94 Recurring strategies of proportion, 84 Red Fort Complex in Delhi, 50 Red sandstone, 50 Religion and secular practices, 4 Renaissance, vi, 3, 21, 35, 47, 58 61, 63, 64, 66, 74, 109 Robotic fabrication, 5 Role of the patron, 7, 17 Roman clientela, 18 Roman concrete, 23 Roman Orders of architecture, 21 Ronchamp, vi, 47, 70, 71, 73, 74 Royal Gold Medal, 81, 94, 95, 100 S Santa Maria del Fiore, 21, 59, 60, 62, 64, 109, 110 Self-actualization, 20 Self-reproducing objects, 66 Self-similarity and self-reproduction, 68 Sense of place, 4, 16, 51, 93 Sense of ugliness, 12 Sensual quality, 82 Shape assessment, 16 Shape Grammar model, 84 Siegfried Gideon, 35 Simultaneity, 4 Simultaneity and movement, 35 Smart and Nano materials, 25, 37 Smartphone, 39 Sonic tapestry, 33 Spatial grammar of virtual architectures, 39 Spherical geometry, 30, 47, Spiritual essence of space, 5 Spirituality, 5, 11, 20 Spirituality and place, 11 Stationary dynamism, 2 Stellar vaulting, 57 Stone skeleton, 21, 57 Structural acrobatics, 3 Structural aesthetic, v, vi, viii, 1 3, 5, 7 9, 15, 20, 24, 29, 30, 34, 47 49, 51 53, 56, 58, 62, 64, 74, 81, 86, 87, 94, 95, Structural materials, 23 Structural rightness, vi Structural virtuosity, 87 Studies of termitaries, 28 Subliminal mathematical order, 11 Subliminal qualities, 4 Sydney Opera House, 29, 47, 74, Symbolism, 7 Symbols and symbolism, 14 Symmetry or asymmetry, 13

9 132 Index T Taste, 10, 32 Technological sublime, 19 Tectonic architectures, 92 Thematic iteration in design, 4 Thematic transformation, 4, 7, 33, 34, 47, 68 Timeless principles, 14 Traditions of earth construction, 48 Transcendence, 12 Transcendent aspect of art, vii Turin Exhibition, 47, 75, 77 81, 109, 116 U University Mentouri Constantine, 86 Utopian designs, 96 V Viollet-le-Duc, 51, 66 Visionary architecture, 38 Visual harmony, 9, 13 Vitruvius, 9, 10, 13, 23, 54 W Walter Gropius, 2, 22 Z Zaha Hadid, viii, 3, 22, 30, 47, 53,