I piccoli padiglioni universitari progettati da Enrico Mandolesi a Cagliari

Between 1962 and 1964, Enrico Mandolesi designed three small pavilions for the University of Cagliari: the Great Models Pavilion for the Institute of Construction 377 377 Antonello Sanna, Giuseppina Monni, Emanuela Quaquero I PICCOLI PADIGLIONI UNIVERSITARI PROGETTATI DA ENRICO MANDOLESI A CAGLIARI Science, the Pavilion for the Institute of Hydraulics and the Institute of Genetics. In all cases, the “pictorial” dimension, placing on the same level the warm tones of the clinker and the neutral one of the reinforced concrete, shows the author’s firm belief that all the materials have the same relevance. This is a lesson that Mandolesi learns from Mario Ridolfi, precursor of the Italian realism that abolishes the hierarchy between structural elements and finishes and declares that the creative idea of architecture lies in the precision of details. In the Great Models Pavilion for the Institute of Construction Science he chose to create a new volume connected to preexisting buildings with a small building. The horizontal and vertical windows declare the non-structural nature of the envelope made of bricks. A cultured design approach that uses the paradigm of the Illinois Institute of Technology by Mies van de Rohe. The Institute of Genetics is a building composed of two small volumes articulated on two levels and hinged to an independent stairway with a square plan. In this case, on a formal level, the basic principle is the horizontality that Mandolesi pursues at every level of detail. The author applied a combined solution that includes solid brick walls and a steel structure that connects to the frames of the fixtures. Both cases represent an accurate narration of construction stories that uses the combination of different materials, classic elements and modern solutions, the rough surfaces of reinforced concrete and the smooth ones of brick strips.