Three Resilient Megastructures by Pier Luigi Nervi

Resilience, as the ability of a structure to withstand threats and continue to function, is normally related to durability and performance to accepted standards over time. The resilience of a structure can be threatened by poor design, changes in the public's perception of style, the potential for a change in use, and structural attack; catastrophic events such as fire, explosion, or impact are usually considered the main threats for resilience. In the contemporary built environment, resilience is considered increasingly important; it has, in fact, become one of the major design issues, especially for large, iconic or public and prominent structures, which has not always been the case. Following World War II (WWII), building designers faced the necessity to conceive projects within severe financial constraints, hence the proliferation of a low quality and limited life-span structures — buildings that were designed to be replaceable, cheap, and perhaps anonymous. This approach was thought to be an effectiv...