Prefabrication experiments - 213 - oddities - 04 - Precast concrete cladding panels by Gino Valle

Although its invention is often associated with French, German or even Swiss 19th and 20th century protagonists, reinforced concrete is in a way a very ancient Italian material. Opus Caementum, a Roman masonry work was infilled with a mixture of volcanic lime-based ash that reacted mystically with water to generate heat and a solid artificial stone. Part of Vitruvius’ treatise on materials, the white magical powder was a major component of the Roman empire’s building culture. The Pantheon still stands in the center of Rome as a symbol of concrete’s capacity for durable compressive structures. 

Reinforced concrete armed with steel or iron again became a symbol of Italian construction prowess during the twentieth century and post WW2 specifically as precast concrete gained traction and was democratized through repetitive components used to build everything from schools, to stadiums and post offices. Precast concrete was regarded as quick and efficient and furthermore uses local resources.

Gino Valle, well-known designer of the Cifra 3, a split-flap clock designed for the Solari company, combined his talent for architecture and industrial design with Italy’s rich concrete heritage to explore precast concrete wall systems. The systems’ straightforward vertical segments present a potential for straight lines, curved lines and turning corners; a modular building cladding and skin for any building shape. The prize-winning interlocking panels for Zanussi-Rex repeated an alternated rib panel cast in three widths, a 32-inch version, a 22-inch version and a corner version. The pattern produces a robust rhythm of cast shadows, maintaining a classic aesthetic even for the most modest of building functions. 

Each panel is profiled with an arched section and a flat striated section which when alternated convey a corrugated facade. Spanning the building’s height, each fluted panel was bolted through its overlapping alternate to reach the separate steel skeletal structure. Bolt openings were cast in the panels facilitating onsite coordination and assembly. From the many systems that were developed in parallel, Gino Valle’s precast panel system invented for the Zanussi-Rex factory building in the late 1960s was applied to a series of factory type buildings. The simple alternate cladding panel communicates repetitive formwork as a parameter of precast concrete systems. 

Panel modules and wall organization