L’avanguardia nella prefabbricazione delle strutture in cemento armato in Italia

The present work focuses on the evolution of prefabricated r.c. structures in Italy, starting from the first experiments in the field of thin structures and of r.c. boats (made by the roman factory Cementi Retinati Gabellini) since 1898. The aim is to supply an historical overview on the practical activity of building that involved a large diffusion of original construction solutions. Starting from construction methods normally used for steel structures, the objective is to identify the way which led up to the realization of the thin reticular structures designed by Santarella (the FIMIT foundry (Biella), the garage Fossati (Biella), the building of the Bianchi Society, the silk factory G. L. Tondani, Portichetto (Como), and the tram depot of the Milan Municipal Company (Baggio)) or the beams adopted by Pier Luigi Nervi for the cover of the exhibition of Pelota in florentine Alhambra. These design solutions, together with experiments on membrane structures, were the first examples of a mature r.c. prefabrication. This construction technique found the most elegant solutions mainly in projects of Nervi, which still represent a perfect synthesis of economy and structural efficiency.