Construction Ingenuity and Aeronautical Experimentation: The D.S.S.E. Construction Site in Guidonia as a Laboratory of Innovation

The site has always been a place where technological innovation meets new materials and construction techniques, and can be a real research laboratory, where experience and technique are combined to meet the needs of the reference context. In this perspective, the present contribution aims to decode the innovative approach adopted in the implementation of the Higher Direction Studies and Experiences of Guidonia and to understand the construction processes through the distinct phases of the construction site. The investigation, conducted by reading photographic documentation, has allowed to reconstruct the organization of the site and the strategies adopted to build buildings with advanced technological characteristics. Particular attention is paid to the construction of the site and its functions that have allowed the realization of complex futuristic, such as wind tunnels, hydrodynamic tanks and laboratories for aeronautical tests. This perspective highlights how the management of the construction site and the building process fits into an integrated knowledge system, where different skills are interwoven to give life to new architectural and engineering solutions. In a period marked by economic and political constraints, the site is not limited to being a simple place of “do” but becomes the place for new opportunities for research on materials and modern construction techniques, creating a significant model of synthesis between architecture and industry.