Gino Zani : l'ingegnere, l'architetto, lo storico

Includes bibliographical references and index.

La carriera dell'ingegnere sammarinese Gino Zani (1882-1964) attraversa una fase cruciale del passaggio a una nuova forma di città. L'urgenza storica con cui si presenta la metropoli è, già di per sé, l'espressione stessa del moderno che scardina le tradizionali categorie interpretative. L'irruzione del moderno è però pervasiva, investe anche chi, come Zani, cercherà di opporre all'urto una resistenza conservativa. La città in Zani è inizialmente un risultato che emerge dagli sviluppi tecnologici come risposta pratica alle necessità, e si trasforma poi in un ambizioso obiettivo da raggiungere che, insieme allo spazio, deve coinvolgere la storia mitizzata della sua forma urbana.

A una prima città moderna, la Reggio Calabria dei primi del Novecento, espressione di una borghesia urbana che tenta un riscatto dopo lo choc della distruzione del terremoto, succede così una seconda città, la San Marino degli anni Trenta, che, attraverso l'invenzione di una tradizione, si apriva ugualmente alla modernità travestita da borgo storico ricostruito. Il libro vede riuniti i lavori di autorevoli autori che hanno contribuito ad elevare la figura di Zani e una selezione dei suoi progetti. [Testo dell'editore]

The career of the engineer Gino Zani from San Marino (1882-1964) went through a crucial phase in the transition to a new form of city. The metropolis featured a perturbing historical urgency which was the true expression of the modern, undermining the traditional interpretative categories. However, the irruption of the modern was pervasive and also involved people like Zani, who subsequently tried to oppose its impact by means of a conservative resistance. From this point of view, the work of the engineer is within the paradigm of modernity and the differences of approach arises inside this structure, in different times and spaces.

According to Zani the city was initially a result emerging from technological developments as a practical response to needs. Later on, it turned into an ambitious goal to be achieved which, together with space, was to involve the mythicized story of its urban form. In the early twenties, Reggio Calabria was the first modern city, the expression of an urban bourgeoisie trying to redeem after the shock of an earthquake destruction. In the thirties, it was replaced by another city, San Marino, which equally opened to modernity through the invention of a tradition, disguised as a reconstructed historic village. Zani was portrayed basically considering these two moments, which related to different places.

It seems that the figure of this professional has been divided into equal parts and each side apparently does not match the other. The two parts are almost seen as autonomous blocks, without any contact. Therefore, our goal was to bring together the "two careers", divided between Reggio Calabria and the Republic of San Marino, into a single publication. The book, as the outcome of a conference held in 2014, collects the works of outstanding authors who contributed to enhancing the figure of Zani in the last thirty years. Finally, in this publication there is a monographic part concerning a selection of his projects. It includes "cards" in order to help those who will approach the work of Zani for the first time without a specific competence of the topics dealt with. [Publisher's text]

Papers presented at a conference held at the Teatro Titano della Repubblica in San Marino, San Marino, December 6, 2014, and other essays.

G. Zani (1882-1964).