Masonry and its role in the mid-20th century: G area houses in the Le Vallette district of Turin

The paper focuses on the housing complex designed by A. Cavallari Murat and the younger R. Gabetti, A. Isola and G. Raineri (1958-69) for the Ina-Casa public housing district of Le Vallette in Turin. The load-bearing masonry structure initially adopted by the designers, with upwards tapered pillars projecting from the façades (a solution which seems to be reminiscent of the work of Alessandro Antonelli), constituted a central element for the development of the project but was abandoned during the construction phase in favour of a reinforced concrete one. If this choice had no significant consequences as regards architectural image - the brick facing masonry surviving as a simulacrum of the original structural system - it triggered a process of technical re-elaboration which has been analysed in depth, comparing archival sources and the tangible reality of the buildings. The different solutions adopted by the four construction companies involved, as concerns both the organization of the load-bearing structure and its relationships with brick cavity walls, highlight the recurring building methods in Turin's public housing between the fifties and sixties, in their slow evolution still linked to a "traditional" baggage of techniques and experiences.