Padre Pio Church
| A remarkable modern church has been built in southern Italy to commemorate Padre Pio. The church is designed by Renzio Piano (see links below) and is a stunning example of a modern building that uses weight-bearing stone arches, much in the way that Roman and Renaissance masonry use the compressive strength of stone. Each arch is made of a series of segments. Each segment is made by joining several stones together in a sandwich with steel end plates and some interior cables to increase stability. The photo at left shows one of the stone blocks end-on, with bore holes for the cables. |
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General Links
Here are some informative links to the engineering and design behind Renzo Piano's arches: http://www.arcspace.com/architects/piano/padre_pio/padre_pio.html http://www.marmomacc.com/MarmoArteCultura/template_en.asp?sezione=work&pagina=piano For detailed color photos, check out the Renzo Piano website: http://194.185.232.3/works/050/pictures.aspStructural details
For detailed structural drawings, visit: http://194.185.232.3/works/050/drawings.asp You have to download a program (it only works on PCs) to view the drawings but it's relatively quick and easy. (JackConte? ) Adding a couple of extra links about the arcs and how they were constructed- http://www.marmomacc.com/MarmoArteCultura/template_en.asp?sezione=work&pagina=piano -- this one has some good photos & discussion of the process of laminating stacks of stones, stringing cables between them to make a kind of "necklace" structure for the arches.
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