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Beauty's Rigor: Patterns of Production in the Work of Pier Luigi Nervi Thomas Leslie. Urbana, Chicago and Springfield: University of Illinois Press. 2017. 232 pp., 164 b/w ills. ?35.00 hardback. ISBN: 978-0252041129
This is a valuable and welcome addition to the published books on the work of Pier Luigi Nervi and in a testimonial reproduced on the back cover of Thomas Leslie's book, Professor Barry Bergdoll rightly notes Nervi's '...meagre bibliography despite his historical importance.' Leslie's book is clearly a labour of love with the title Beauty's Rigor drawn from the writings of William Carlos Williams.
Leslie makes an exploration, both actual and theoretical, of Nervi's life and key works, in nine thematic chapters. This book is not a desktop exercise in collating, summarising and analysing the extensive and diverse catalogue of the great architect/engineer/builder who trained in Civil Engineering in Bologna. As a Rome scholar Leslie spent time in Italy, which has been well-rewarded with excellent material drawn from the MAXXI Architettura Collection - Pier Luigi Archive, his own crisp photographs and input from a 'community of Nervi Scholars' of whom he generously acknowledges. One of the stand out features and most pedagogically useful aspects of the book are the wonderful drawings by Leslie and colleagues that describe projects in orthographic projection, their geometry and construction...