Structure and Form: The Theory of ‘Minimal Surfaces’ and the Bridge over the Basento River by Sergio Musmeci

Abstract

Sergio Musmeci occupies a very important position in the history of late 20th century Italian engineering. Born in Rome in 1926, he initially graduated in civil engineering and later in aeronautical engineering. Following an apprenticeship with Pier Luigi Nervi, in whose office he worked from 1949 to 1951, and with Riccardo Morandi, he later opened his own engineering and architecture office together with his wife, the architect Zenaide Zanini. He taught at the University of Rome, initially as an assistant to the course in Rational Mechanics and Graphic Statics, and later as professor of Bridges and Large Structures.