Stress Analysis of Historic Structures: Maillart's Warehouse at Chiasso

Abstract

The significant architecture of any era is expected to include its large public buildings: the temples and arenas of the classical period, the cathedrals of the Middle Ages, and the transportation terminals and exhibition halls of our own time. Nevertheless, the main lines of architectural development pass through other construction as well: in residence, school, and office buildings, and even in granaries, mills, and warehouses. Early-20th-century examples from this last category often cited as important sources of modern architectural design include the Berlin AEG Turbine Factory of Peter Behrens (1909), the Bauhaus at Dessau of Walter Gropius (1926), and the Mobilier National, Paris, of August Perret (1931). The warehouse of the Magazzini Generali at Chiasso, designed by E. Brenni and Robert Maillart in 1924, is another industrial building that has attracted the interest of architectural historians.' But, in fact, it is not the warehouse building that is especially significant, although it does provide an excellent example of the mushroom-column and flat-slab floor system in concrete that Maillart originated in 1910. Rather, it is the framing of an attached reinforced-concrete storage shed that has commanded so much attention (fig. 1). This shed, attributed to Maillart, is relatively small (33 x 50 meters in plan) and is, in fact, hidden behind the main building, a peculiarity that seems