The Fiat Tagliero Building in Asmara, capital city of Eritrea, is a Futurist Style service station completed in 1938 and designed by the Italian architect Giuseppe Pettazzi. Asmara (English ( Ge'ez: ኣስመራ Asmera, formerly known as Asmera, or in أسمرا Asmaraa Eritrea () ( Ge'ez: ኤርትራ ʾErtrā, Arabic: إرتريا Iritriya) officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in Futurist architecture (or Futurism) began as an early-20th century form of architecture characterized by anti-historicism Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest An architect is a licensed individual who leads a design team in the Planning and Design of buildings and participates in oversight of Building Construction Giuseppe Pettazzi was an Italian Art Deco Architect of the 1930's
From the beginning conceived as a simple petrol station, Pettazzi designed a building that resembles an aeroplane. It consists of a central tower which incorporates the office space and cashiers desk and shop. Either side of the main tower there are a pair of cantilever wings which are each 30m (100ft) in length. A cantilever is a beam supported on only one end The beam carries the load to the support where it is resisted by moment and Shear stress. The wings are built in re-enforced concrete and are structurally unsupported. Concrete is a construction material composed of Cement (commonly Portland cement) as well as other cementitious materials such as Fly ash and Slag Because of law in Italy (and therefore Eritrea — an Italian colony) during the 1930s, the wings legally had to be supported, so on the technical drawings of the building there are wooden pillars which prop up the wings. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest Eritrea () ( Ge'ez: ኤርትራ ʾErtrā, Arabic: إرتريا Iritriya) officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in The day before its inauguration, workers who completed the construction refused to remove the supports used during construction fearing the wings would collapse. Pettazzi settled the argument by climbing to the end of one of the wings and, holding a revolver to the main builder's head, threatened to kill him if they did not remove the supports. In the end the supports were removed and the wings held, just as they do today.
The building is incredibly well-built, and has had almost zero maintenance for over 75 years. Luckily, the building has not been damaged during the numerous conflicts that have affected the Horn of Africa over the past century, and so it stands today. The building is Category I listed in Eritrea. This means that not any part of the building may be adjusted in any way.
The building is currently owned by the Royal Dutch Shell oil company. Royal Dutch Shell plc, commonly known simply as Shell, is a multinational oil company of Dutch and British origins [1]
References
- ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/africalives/features/listenagain.shtml A BBC Radio 4 Programme about Asmara and its architecture, including the Fiat Tagliero Building. Retrieved 18 July 2006.
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