news Construction History Group Politecnico di Torino

Programme of the Seventh Annual Conference of the Construction History Society

Saturday 4 April 2020
Those who registered for the conference and everyone who is a member of the CHS will be sent a links by email on Friday 4 to register for each of the online sessions. You need to register separately for each session. Registration is free and on registration you will receive the electronic invitation to attend. The conference is being run as a Zoom Webinar. You will need to download the Zoom app on your device but you do not need to pat to use zoom to join. Membership is free. All those presenting papers will be sent full instructions.

10am Online Session 1: Tradition and Innovation

Maryia Rusak
PhD candidate, Oslo School of Architecture and Design, Norway
Norwegian Systems Architecture: Timber Prefabrication of Moelven Brug
Abstract: Paper looks at the 19th century Norwegian joinery firm, Moelven Brug and how it transformed itself into a major producer of prefabricated timber homes in 1970s in Norway.

Paula Fuentes
Department of Architectural Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium;
Rosa Ana Guerra-Pestonit
Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain
The Vaults of Sint-Theresia’s church in Dilbeek (Belgium): Tradition and Innovation in Tile Vaults in the 20th Century
Abstract: Paper looks at the transfer of technology of thin tile vaults and how they were used in the vaulting of St Theresia’s church in Dilbeck in Belgium in the 1930s.

12 (midday) Online Session 2: Eighteenth century

James W.P. Campbell
Department of Architecture, University of Cambridge, UK
The Significance of John Theophilus Desaguliers’s Course of Experimental Philosophy to the History of Hydraulics and what it reveals about the First Pump-driven Fountains
Abstract: This explores the work of John Theophilus Desaguliers, an 198th century British writer whose publications give the very first description of pumped fountains

Lia Romano
Department of Architecture, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
Fighting fires. Jean-Far Eustache de Saint-Far’s contribution to the debate on fireproof constructions in France at the end of the eighteenth century
Abstract: Looks at the contribution of the artist-engineer Jean Far Eustach de Saint-Fer (1746-1828) to the debate on the construction of fire proof floors and the promotion of the use of hollow clay pots

2pm Online Session 3: Concrete

Andreas Thuy
ETH Zurich, Switzerland
The ‘Pilzdecken’ of the Federal Granary in Altdorf: “a paragon facility for the modern art of building”
Abstract: Paper on concrete and its use by the Swiss engineer Robert Maillart (1872-1940) to produce a 1909 patent for Pilzdecken (girderless slabs showing Maillart’s system in action in the building the Federal Granary in the Swiss city of Altdorf constructed in 1912.

Ilaria Giannetti
Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”, Italy
Reinforced concrete, industry and design: Balency prefabricated panels between France and Italy
Abstract: Paper looks the Balency prefabricated concrete panel system and how it was used in France and Italy. The Balency system was invented in France in 1948, patented in 1950 ad introduced to the French market 1952 and into Italy in 1964. The article details the system and its adoption, with clear diagrams and photographs showing how it worked

Sofia Nannini
Politecnico di Torino, Italy
Icelandic Concrete Surfaces: Guðjón Samúelsson’s Steining (1930–50)
Abstract: Paper on Steining, a render specifically designed to protect concrete surfaces from the freeze-thaw problems associated with the cold and used in Iceland and invented by Guöjón Samúelsson in 1930.

4pm Online Session 4: Professions and Professionals

Valentina Burgassi
Dipartimento di Architettura e Design, Politecnico di Torino - École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris
Mauro Volpiano
Dipartimento di Architettura e Design, Politecnico di Torino
Tradition and innovation: the construction of court palaces and the role of professional figures in eighteenth-century Piedmont
Abstract: This paper explores the construction of the sixteenth and seventeenth century buildings of the Savoy Court in Piedmont. These are well documented, with building accounts and drawings providing valuable insights into the construction process at the time.

Christiane Weber
Universität Innsbruck, Austria
Online paper: Professional organisations of Architects and Engineers and their journals in nineteenth century German States
Abstract: Looks at the professional schools, publications and professional organisations for architects and engineers in the 39 German States before the unification in 1871.

Mike Chrimes
Institution of Civil Engineers Panel for Historical Engineering Works
Jesse Hartley in 1797: evidence on the making of the Liverpool Docks Engineer
Abstract: The paper examines a new piece of evidence on the life of Jesse Hartley (1780-1860), the engineer of the Liverpool Docks. Hartley’s papers were burned after his death but there are a few chance survivals. This paper looks at a diary from 1797, which contains the appointments for the young trainee engineer and gives an idea of his movements. Chrimes compares this to other sources and diaries of the period.

6pm Online Session 5: Iron

Katerina Maria Chalvatzi
ETH Zurich, Institute of Conservation and Building Archaeology (IDB)
Online paper: Early iron in Theatre Construction: the Théâtre du Palais-Royal in Paris
Abstract: Paper detailing the use of iron to create the roofs and hollow pts for the vaults of a theatre in Paris constructed in the 1780s

Tom F. Peters
Emeritus Professor, Lehigh University, Penn., USA
Louis Bruyère’s innovative iron bridges and their contribution to the development of modern iron construction
Abstract: Paper detailing Louis Bruyère’s innovative use of iron to create bridges 1790-1830

Sara E. Wermiel
Boston University and MIT, Mass., USA
Introduction of the Rolled I-beam in the U.S.A. in the 1850s, Revisited
Abstract: This paper discusses the first two ironworks to roll I-beams in the U.S. in the 1850s