Analysis of Pier Luigi Nervi's ferrocement structures conservation state: experimental study.

Reinforced concrete is the most present material in the Italian building environment and most of the reinforced concrete structures in Italy comes from the economic Boom period. This period is characterized by a great experimentation work on this and other materials, one of them is ferrocement. New challenging shapes where researched and building records achieved, giving birth to architectural landmarks and masterpieces. By the way, the experimentations considered reinforced concrete and ferrocement as eternal materials and didn’t face the durability problems which come out with time. So nowadays, especially the structures which where the most innovative in that period, presents various durability and conservation issues. Those structures represent an important part of the Italian history and building engineering culture, they must be conserved and protected from degradation issues. This work is focused on the Torino Exposition Hall B (To-Expo), designed by the Italian engineer Pier Luigi Nervi, a unique and a pioneer structure for reinforced concrete use and the ferrocement introduction, with the goal of define the conservation state of the structure and experiment new conservation possibilities for the material. The thesis work is part of a project supported by the Getty Keeping It Modern Initiative to develop a Conservation Plan for the rehabilitation of this masterpiece.