The Italian embassy in Brasilia is a superb example of the enduring architectural and engineering genius of Pier Luigi Nervi, whose creative use of reinforced concrete made him a legend of his day. This volume is a new edition of the original, first published in 2008, with a new format and new photographs.
From the first tentative sketches to the executive blueprints, from the photos of the construction site to the completed building photographed by Leonardo Finotti, this richly-illustrated volume documents the history of an unusual and little-studied work: the Italian embassy in Brasilia. Reinforced concrete was Nervi’s preferred medium, not as a codified technique, but rather as a material to conjure with, a construction strategy offering room for continuous improvements, embellishments and inventions, where each new project was an opportunity to experiment.
This book studies the background to the construction of the Italian embassy in Brasilia; from 1969, when Pier Luigi Nervi was appointed to design the building by the Italian Foreign Secretary Pietro Nenni, to 1979, the year of Nervi’s death. An essay by historian Sergio Poretti illustrates Pier Luigi Nervi’s career through the works which highlight his creative genius for moulding reinforced concrete.