Un’inedita architettura lombarda contemporanea. Il campanile di S. Marco a Venezia

Abstract

This work is the first to comprehensively discuss the
reconstruction of the bell tower of S. Marco in Venice,
which collapsed in 1903. Its reconstruction (completed by
1912) was considered a radically new work of contemporary
Italian architecture and no longer as a mere operation
of restoration.
In this context, we examine contributions by Luca Beltrami, Daniele Donghi and Arturo Danusso – all of Lombard or
Piedmontese origin – on the (re)construction of an architectural organism that left it radically different from the preexisting
medieval one. The result of the best Italian architectural and engineering culture between the late nineteenth and
early twentieth century, the new San Marco bell tower was a fundamental success in the context of the 20th-century use
of load-bearing masonry and reinforced concrete in new high-rise buildings. The contribution of Danusso in particular
(among the greatest Italian theorists and designers of reinforced concrete of the first half of the 20th century, currently
being rediscovered for his fundamental contributions on the subject) is addressed regarding the crucial transformation he
made to the structure of the new bell tower compared to that designed by its previous designers.