Elementi strutturali cavi per l’integrazione impiantistica: Marco Zanuso per le fabbriche Olivetti in Sudamerica

The factory plants in South America represent a relevant outcome of the collaboration between the architect Marco Zanuso and Adriano Olivetti. In the Merlo factory, Argentina (1954-61), the requirements for flexibility in the production leads the architect to design a modular structure, replicable according to company’s future needs. In Merlo, the connoting technical element is a circular, cantilevered hollow beam in concrete, burdening on three columns. The beam geometry solves the problem of plant distributions, playing a relevant role as well as the concrete pillar in the Olivetti factory in Guarulhos, Brazil (1956-59). The structural system allows creating independent work units and, thus, a flexible organization of activities. Zanuso underlines that the module is comparable to a design product, where structures configure serial functional layouts and define serial technical elements.