The First Reinforced Concrete Structures in Urban Renewal in an Italian Provincial City,

For reinforced concrete, we may consider two histories: one focuses on the influence reinforced concrete has exerted on the process of renewal of the architecture of twentieth century; the other pertains to the manners in which the development of this material effectively came about in various geographic areas. With regard to the latter field of enquiry, generalizations have very frequently been made. Hence, for example, few are aware of the fact that reinforced concrete was used in the Trentino Alto Adige area – and, specifically, in Trento – firstly for military architectural works and then for civilian works. Taking first place with respect to the search for new and original solutions, innovation of military engineering works responded to needs for greater industrialization of production processes, for labour and material savings, for greater sustainability and, environmentally speaking, appropriateness of location, and, last but not least, for providing increasingly effective guarantees in terms of the safety both of building workers during construction and of direct and indirect users during the working life of the construction. Is analysed the complex of military constructions produced in the city, and, specifically, it undertook in-depth study of the manner in which the use of reinforced concrete spread to civilian architecture. The question was also raised as to whether these works should be considered in terms of the considerable ‘disposal’ problems they might pose or whether they should instead be preserved and used to advantage, in view of the fact that they bear witness to technological change