Search results for " constructive techniques"
showing 3 items of 3 documents
Taking inspiration from nature: rules and procedures for a good building practice
2016
Sin dai tempi antichi si sono sfruttati gli alberi ed altri elementi vegetali per scopi costruttivi: la natura, in generale, è stata di ispirazione e ha insegnato una serie di regole, a lungo imitate ed applicate. Alcune delle numerose specie arboree hanno rappresentato, infatti, degli esempi per le costruzioni primitive e, successivamente, per gli stili architettonici classici: possiamo annoverare i primi rifugi estemporanei ed ispirati a criteri di urgenza e praticità, o anche ben più ragionati edifici, fatti di elementi vegetali assemblati fra di loro. Questi manufatti architettonici richiamavano la natura nel suo fiorente sviluppo e nel sapiente e preciso equilibrio. L’architettura clas…
The ‘false vaults’ in the architecture of Sicily
2015
Between the end of the 17th century and the first decades of the 18th, Sicily was struck by several violent earthquakes. The total and partial collapse of monumental buildings produced a global debate involving various aspects of construction practice. One of the central topics of discussion was the construction of domes and large vaulted structures. Some architects studied the possibility of using so-called ‘false vaults’, a kind of lightweight structure created with a wooden frame, reed mats, and plaster. The technique was probably known by the 16th century and was used in a few major monuments, such as the dome of the Palermo Cathedral, in the mid-17th century. It was only after the Eart…
Terremoto e architettura storica. Palermo e il sisma del 1726.
2015
On September 1st 1726 Palermo was hit by a violent earthquake. Although it did not bring about the destruction of the city, the earthquake caused widespread and extensive damage to the architectural heritage. The local insti- tutions carried out a series of actions involving representatives of the technical culture. These actions affected the subsequent appearance of the urban pattern and influenced the construction methods of the time. Crossing the data taken from chronicles of the time, from maps produced after the earthquake and above all copious archival documents, the research aims to reconstruct the state in which Palermo was after that tragic event, highlighting a number of aspects. …