Pier Luigi Nervi Foundation

Pier Luigi Nervi Foundation Honouring the legacy of Pier Luigi Nervi, architect, engineer & builder; promoting architecture through research, conservation, education & culture since 2008.

no-profit organisation which was founded in 2008 with the objective of contributing to a renewal of study and knowledge about the life and work of the Italian engineer and architect Pier Luigi Nervi. Since 2021 our organisation became a Foundation. Fondata nel 2008, la PLN Project è un’organizzazione senza scopo di lucro per il rinnovamento degli studi e della conoscenza dell’opera e della figura di Pier Luigi Nervi. Dal 2021 è diventata una Fondazione.

On Wednesday 6 May friends, visitors and collaborators gathered in Campo Manin for the official opening of “If All Time ...
12/05/2026

On Wednesday 6 May friends, visitors and collaborators gathered in Campo Manin for the official opening of “If All Time Is Eternally Present” during the inaugural week of the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.

As night fell, the projectors illuminated the façade of Palazzo Nervi Scattolin, officially launching a new programme of cultural initiatives by Pier Luigi Nervi Foundation. More than a thousand people joined us to celebrate, and many more have continued to visit each evening since.

The exhibition remains on view until 7 June 2026, with nightly projections from 20:30 to 23:00.

Visit Campo Manin, take a seat on the bench designed for the exhibition, spend time with the artworks, and listen to the soundscape unfolding across the square. Cultural mediators are present every evening, and for any questions or further information feel free to get in touch via email or speak with the team on site.

Mercoledì 6 maggio amici, visitatori e collaboratori si sono riuniti in Campo Manin per l’inaugurazione ufficiale di “If All Time Is Eternally Present” durante la settimana inaugurale della 61. Esposizione Internazionale d’Arte – La Biennale di Venezia.

Al calare della sera, i proiettori hanno illuminato la facciata di Palazzo Nervi Scattolin, dando ufficialmente avvio a un nuovo programma di iniziative culturali promosso dalla Pier Luigi Nervi Foundation. Più di mille persone si sono unite a noi per celebrare l’apertura, e molte altre continuano a visitare la mostra ogni sera.

La mostra rimarrà visibile fino al 7 giugno 2026, con proiezioni serali dalle 20:30 alle 23:00.

Venite a Campo Manin, accomodatevi sulla panchina progettata per la mostra, prendetevi del tempo per osservare le opere e ascoltare il paesaggio sonoro che attraversa il campo. Ogni sera sono presenti mediatori culturali, e per qualsiasi domanda o ulteriore informazione non esitate a contattarci via email o a parlare con il team presente sul posto.

Artists: Kandis Williams, Meriem Bennani & Orian Barki, Tai Shani
Curators: Chiara Carrera and Marta Barina
Sponsor: Bottega Veneta

Photos by Camilla Vazzoler.


Thank you to the wonderful group of friends, supporters, press, visitors, and curious passersby who joined us in Campo M...
07/05/2026

Thank you to the wonderful group of friends, supporters, press, visitors, and curious passersby who joined us in Campo Manin last night to celebrate the opening of If All Time Is Eternally Present.
We are deeply grateful to the artists Tai Shani, Kandis Williams, Meriem Bennani, and Orian Barki for entrusting us with their work and vision, and to Bottega Veneta for a partnership that has been strong, generous, and genuinely meaningful.
Thank you to Mare Karina for a passionate and multifaceted production, and to the many collaborators who made this possible: the energetic culinary collective Tocia, the young team who welcomed visitors and mediated the exhibition across the campo, and the designers XAARCHIVE and The Swedish Girls for their contributions.

The exhibition is now on view every evening from 20:30 to 23:00 until 7 June 2026 on the façade of Palazzo Nervi Scattolin.

Grazie al meraviglioso gruppo di amici, sostenitori, stampa, visitatori e curiosi di passaggio che ieri sera si sono uniti a noi in Campo Manin per celebrare l’apertura di If All Time Is Eternally Present.
Siamo profondamente grati alle artiste e agli artisti Tai Shani, Kandis Williams, Meriem Bennani e Orian Barki per averci affidato il loro lavoro e la loro visione, e a Bottega Veneta per una partnership forte, generosa e sinceramente significativa.
Grazie a Mare Karina per una produzione appassionata e sfaccettata, e ai molti collaboratori che hanno reso tutto questo possibile: il dinamico collettivo culinario Tocia, il giovane team che ha accolto i visitatori e mediato la mostra attraverso il campo, e i designer XAARCHIVE e The Swedish Girls per il loro contributo.

La mostra è ora visitabile ogni sera dalle 20:30 alle 23:00 fino al 7 giugno 2026 sulla facciata di Palazzo Nervi Scattolin.

“If All Time Is Eternally Present”
Kandis Williams, Tai Shani, Meriem Bennani, Orian Barki
Curated by Chiara Carrera and Marta Barina

Presented by Pier Luigi Nervi Foundation
Exclusively sponsored by Bottega Veneta
Collateral Event of Biennale Arte 2026

Photo by Tiziano Ercoli

Conceived as part of Turin’s centenary celebrations of Italian unification, the International Exhibition of Labour was i...
23/04/2026

Conceived as part of Turin’s centenary celebrations of Italian unification, the International Exhibition of Labour was inaugurated under the chairmanship of Giovanni Agnelli. Bringing together twenty-one foreign nations alongside major industrial protagonists, it aimed to present a compelling narrative of Italy’s economic ascent.

Gio Ponti was entrusted with the exhibition design, developing it in productive dialogue with Pier Luigi Nervi’s monumental Palazzo del Lavoro, whose architecture shaped the tone and ambition of the entire enterprise.

Within this setting, the exhibition route unfolded as a concentrated survey of post-war display culture, in which industrial subject matter was intensified through the intervention of leading authors and designers.



Concepita nell’ambito delle celebrazioni torinesi per il centenario dell’Unità d’Italia, l’Esposizione Internazionale del Lavoro fu inaugurata sotto la presidenza di Giovanni Agnelli.

Riunendo ventuno Paesi stranieri accanto ai principali protagonisti dell’industria, essa mirava a offrire un racconto convincente dell’ascesa economica dell’Italia.

A Gio Ponti fu affidato l’allestimento della mostra, elaborato in un dialogo fecondo con il monumentale Palazzo del Lavoro di Pier Luigi Nervi, la cui architettura determinò il tono e l’ambizione dell’intera impresa.

In questo contesto, il percorso espositivo si configurava come una sintesi concentrata della cultura dell’allestimento del dopoguerra, nella quale i temi industriali venivano intensificati dall’intervento di autori e progettisti di rilievo.



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Venice has long stood at the crossroads of tradition and innovation: firmly committed to safeguarding its timeless image...
21/04/2026

Venice has long stood at the crossroads of tradition and innovation: firmly committed to safeguarding its timeless image, yet simultaneously a stage for hyper-contemporaneity.
The history of Palazzo Nervi Scattolin sheds light on a brief yet intense moment in Venetian history when, in the aftermath of World War II, the city seemed to question its own future, opening itself to new and virtuous scenarios of cultural, urban, and social renewal in which architecture played a central role. Together with the projects of Scarpa, Scattolin, Samonà, Trincanato, Gardella, and Vietti, Nervi’s project made its way into the city, compensating for the “eloquent renunciations” represented by the important projects by Frank L. Wright, Le Corbusier, and Louis Kahn that were never realized.

Venezia si trova da sempre contesa tra tradizione e innovazione: salda nella protezione della propria immagine eterna e, allo stesso tempo, teatro di iper-contemporaneità. 
La storia di Palazzo Nervi Scattolin mette in luce un momento fugace ma intenso della storia veneziana, in cui la città, nel secondo dopoguerra, sembra interrogare il proprio futuro aprendosi a scenari inediti e virtuosi di rinnovamento culturale, urbano e sociale, nei quali l’architettura riveste un ruolo centrale. Insieme ai progetti di Scarpa, Scattolin, Samonà, Trincanato, Gardella e Vietti, il progetto di Nervi fa breccia in città e compensa le “eloquenti rinunce” rappresentate dagli importanti progetti mai realizzati di Frank L. Wright, Le Corbusier e Louis Kahn.

“If All Time Is Eternally Present”
Kandis Williams, Meriem Bennani & Orian Barki, Tai Shani
Curated by Chiara Carrera and Marta Barina

Palazzo Nervi Scattolin, Campo Manin, Venice
9 May – 7 June 2026
On view each night 8.30-11pm

Public Opening: 6 May, 8-11pm
Press Preview: 7-8 May, 8.30-11pm

Exclusively sponsored by Bottega Veneta
Collateral Event of the Biennale Arte 2026

Visual identity by Sebastiano Campoccia

Introducing the video works of “If All Time Is Eternally Present”:Tai Shani “My Bodily Remains, Your Bodily Remains and ...
17/04/2026

Introducing the video works of “If All Time Is Eternally Present”:

Tai Shani “My Bodily Remains, Your Bodily Remains and All the Bodily Remains that Ever Were and Ever Will Be” (2023–2026)

Shani’s video work for the exhibition is a newly produced short edit derived from a longer cinematic work, originally co-commissioned by Art Night (London), CAC Cincinnati, KM21 (The Hague) and POR:TA (Portugal). The film unfolds as a technicolour speculative dream shaped by cinematic and gaming aesthetics, moving across nocturnal urban landscapes, water sequences and bodily fluids. At its centre, The Ghost for Revolution is represented by a red haired woman driven through the city at night, delivering a poetic monologue that traverses war, memory and desire. Her voice moves between intimacy and collective address, evoking bodies as porous archives where love, violence and history converge. Reflecting on universal interdependence and transformation, the work proposes love as both affective force and political gesture.

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Il film di Shani per la mostra è un nuovo montaggio breve derivato da un’opera cinematografica più ampia, originariamente co-commissionata da Art Night (Londra), CAC Cincinnati, KM21 (L’Aia) e POR:TA (Portogallo). Si sviluppa come un sogno speculativo dai toni technicolor, plasmato da estetiche cinematografiche e dai videogames, muovendosi tra paesaggi urbani notturni, sequenze acquatiche e fluidi corporei. Al suo centro, ‘The Ghost for Revolution’ è incarnata da una donna dai capelli rossi che attraversa la città di notte, dando voce a un monologo poetico che attraversa guerra, memoria e desiderio. La sua voce si muove tra intimità e dimensione collettiva, evocando i corpi come archivi porosi in cui amore, violenza e storia convergono. Riflettendo su un’interdipendenza universale e sui processi di trasformazione, l’opera propone l’amore come forza affettiva e gesto politico.

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Image: Tai Shani, My Bodily Remains, Your Bodily Remains and All the Bodily Remains that Ever Were and Ever Will Be, 2023–2026. Video, 15 min. Courtesy of the Artist. ©️ Tai Shani

Visual identity by Sebastiano Campoccia

Introducing the video works of “If All Time Is Eternally Present”:Meriem Bennani & Orian Barki “2 Lizards” (2020)The eig...
15/04/2026

Introducing the video works of “If All Time Is Eternally Present”:

Meriem Bennani & Orian Barki “2 Lizards” (2020)

The eight-episode video series, developed in New York during the lockdown, merges animation and documentary observation through the collaborative practice of Bennani & Barki. Two anthropomorphic reptiles, voiced by the artists, move through the suspended city-landscape of the pandemic in intimate conversations marked by irony and vulnerability. Short episodes, released on Instagram from March 2020, transform boredom, anxiety, and fleeting moments of lightness. Appropriating cartoon techniques within an experimental artistic framework and pushing their “potential for abstraction,” they maintain attentiveness to nuance through narratives that present complex perspectives without resorting to spectacle. In 2021, the work was acquired by the Whitney Museum of American Art, marking its transition from an improvised digital diary to a work situated within contemporary art discourse.

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La serie video in otto episodi, sviluppata a New York durante il lockdown, unisce animazione e osservazione documentaria attraverso la pratica collaborativa di Bennani & Barki. Due rettili antropomorfi, doppiati dalle artiste, si muovono nel paesaggio urbano sospeso della pandemia attraverso conversazioni intime, segnate da ironia e vulnerabilità. Episodi brevi, pubblicati su Instagram a partire da marzo 2020, trasformano noia, ansia e momenti fugaci di leggerezza. Appropriandosi delle tecniche del cartoon all’interno di un framework artistico sperimentale e spingendone il “potenziale di astrazione”, mantengono un’attenzione alla nuance attraverso narrazioni che restituiscono prospettive complesse senza ricorrere allo spettacolo. Nel 2021, l’opera è stata acquisita dal Whitney Museum of American Art, segnando il passaggio da diario digitale improvvisato a lavoro inscritto nel discorso dell’arte contemporanea.

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Image: Meriem Bennani and Orian Barki, 2 Lizards, 2020. Eight episodes video, 23 min 02 s. Courtesy the Artists ©️ Meriem Bennani and Orian Barki

Visual identity by Sebastiano Campoccia

Introducing the video works of “If All Time Is Eternally Present”: Kandis Williams”A Travel Guide: Black Gothic in South...
14/04/2026

Introducing the video works of “If All Time Is Eternally Present”:

Kandis Williams”A Travel Guide: Black Gothic in South Korean Horror” (2025)

Williams’s work layers information, references, and at first unexpected connections, building a complex field of meaning that gradually comes into focus. The video unfolds as a travel journal, research essay, and dérive of associative thought, narrated in the artist’s first-person voice during her travels in South Korea. As she moves across passports controls, natural landscapes, K-beauty aisles and war memorials, the artist reflects on Black conditions of “immobility”, recalling ‘The Negro Motorist Green Book’, the survival guide used by Black travelers during segregation; and on Black visibility as spectacle, rather than repair, in a contemporary culture that aestheticizes Black pain and packages trauma to “exportable cool”, reminding us of the necessity of intra-cultural mediation and contextual translation.
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Il lavoro di Williams stratifica informazioni, riferimenti e connessioni inizialmente inaspettate, costruendo un campo complesso di significato che gradualmente prende forma. Il video si sviluppa come un diario di viaggio, un saggio di ricerca e una dérive di pensiero associativo, narrato in prima persona dalla voce dell’artista durante i suoi viaggi in Corea del Sud. Muovendosi tra controlli passaporti, paesaggi naturali, corsie di K-beauty e memoriali di guerra, l’artista riflette sulle condizioni di “immobilità” Nera, richiamando ‘The Negro Motorist Green Book’, la guida di sopravvivenza utilizzata dai viaggiatori Neri durante la segregazione; e sulla visibilità Nera come spettacolo, piuttosto che come riparazione, in una cultura contemporanea che estetizza il dolore Nero e confeziona il trauma in “exportable cool”, ricordandoci la necessità di una mediazione intraculturale e di una traduzione contestuale.
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Image: Kandis Williams, “A Travel Guide: Black Gothic in South Korean Horror”, 2025. still from video collage, 50 min. Courtesy the Artist. ©️ Kandis Williams.

Visual identity by Sebastiano Campoccia

Designed for the Italia ’61 celebrations, the Palazzo del Lavoro was envisioned as the grand architectural setting for t...
09/04/2026

Designed for the Italia ’61 celebrations, the Palazzo del Lavoro was envisioned as the grand architectural setting for the International Exhibition of Labour.

From the very beginning, the project was intended to express the full maturity of Nervi’s architectural language. At the heart of the design was the division of the square roof into sixteen self-supporting umbrella-like units, each measuring about 40 metres per side, with continuous bands of skylight running between them.

The project’s most remarkable quality lay in the extraordinary efficiency of its ex*****on. Building work started in February 1960, and by the end of December the structure was already largely finished.



Progettato per le celebrazioni di Italia ’61, il Palazzo del Lavoro fu concepito come il grande scenario architettonico destinato ad accogliere l’Esposizione Internazionale del Lavoro.

Fin dall’inizio, il progetto fu pensato per esprimere la piena maturità del linguaggio architettonico di Nervi. Al centro della concezione vi era la suddivisione della copertura quadrata in sedici unità autoportanti a ombrello, ciascuna di circa 40 metri di lato, separate da fasce continue di lucernari.

La qualità più straordinaria del progetto risiedeva nell’eccezionale efficienza della sua realizzazione. I lavori iniziarono nel febbraio 1960 e, entro la fine di dicembre, la struttura era già in larga parte completata.



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The Pier Luigi Nervi Foundation and the curators invite you to the opening of If All Time Is Eternally Present, a noctur...
07/04/2026

The Pier Luigi Nervi Foundation and the curators invite you to the opening of If All Time Is Eternally Present, a nocturnal exhibition of video works by Kandis Williams, Meriem Bennani & Orian Barki, and Tai Shani, projected onto the façade of Palazzo Nervi Scattolin, Venice.

On May 6 in Campo Manin, the event will run from 8.00 to 11:00pm, with screenings starting at 8.30pm. The evening will be catered by the Venetian gastronomic collective Tocia!



La Fondazione Pier Luigi Nervi è lieta di invitarvi all’inaugurazione di If All Time Is Eternally Present, una mostra notturna di opere video di Kandis Williams, Meriem Bennani & Orian Barki e Tai Shani, proiettate sulla facciata di Palazzo Nervi Scattolin, Venezia.

Il 6 maggio, in Campo Manin, l’evento si terrà dalle 20:00 alle 23:00, con le proiezioni a partire dalle 20:30. La serata sarà accompagnata dal collettivo gastronomico veneziano Tocia!



06.05.2026
Screening schedule / Programma delle proiezioni:
•⁠ ⁠8.30–8.45 pm | Tai Shani
•⁠ ⁠⁠8.45–9.10 pm | Meriem Bennani & Orian Barki
•⁠ ⁠⁠9.10–10.05 pm | Kandis Williams
•⁠ ⁠⁠10.05–10.25 pm | Tai Shani
•⁠ ⁠⁠10.25–10.50 pm | Meriem Bennani & Orian Barki



“If All Time Is Eternally Present”
Kandis Williams, Meriem Bennani & Orian Barki, Tai Shani
Curated by Chiara Carrera and Marta Barina

Palazzo Nervi Scattolin, Campo Manin, Venice
9 May – 7 June 2026
On view each night 8.30-11pm

Public Opening: 6 May, 8-11pm
Press Preview: 7-8 May, 8.30-11pm

Exclusively sponsored by Bottega Veneta
Collateral Event of the Biennale Arte 2026

Image : Cassa di Risparmio di Venezia, scale model of the headquarters in Campo Manin, Venice (architects Pier Luigi Nervi and Angelo Scattolin), 1964. Photo Courtesy: Intesa Sanpaolo Historical Archive.

In the 1970s, Venice and New York entered a vibrant transatlantic dialogue shaped by exhibitions, publications, and cult...
02/04/2026

In the 1970s, Venice and New York entered a vibrant transatlantic dialogue shaped by exhibitions, publications, and cultural exchange. Through the work of museums, galleries, and universities – particularly IUAV in Venice and the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies (IAUS) in New York – together with the initiatives of key cultural figures, the two “island cities” became mirrors of one another, forging a fertile terrain of exchange between art, architecture, and critical thought.
The opening of Palazzo Nervi Scattolin coincided with the growing global visibility of Italian cultures of making and design. Within this layered genealogy, Bottega Veneta opened its first international store in New York in 1973, embodying the same oscillation between strong local roots and global cultural projection.


Nel corso degli anni Settanta, Venezia e New York sono al centro di un intenso scambio transatlantico alimentato da mostre, viaggi, pubblicazioni e incontri istituzionali. Grazie al lavoro di musei, gallerie e università – soprattutto lo IUAV di Venezia e l’Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies (IAUS) di New York – insieme all’iniziative di figure chiave della scena culturale, le due “città-isola” si fanno specchio l’una dell’altra e tracciano i perimetri di uno spazio di confronto tra architettura, arte e pensiero critico.
L’apertura di Palazzo Nervi Scattolin coincise con la crescente visibilità globale delle culture italiane del fare e del design. All’interno di questa genealogia stratificata, Bottega Veneta aprì nel 1973 il suo primo negozio internazionale a New York, simbolo di quella stessa oscillazione tra radicamento locale e proiezione globale.


“If All Time Is Eternally Present”
Kandis Williams, Meriem Bennani & Orian Barki, Tai Shani
Curated by Chiara Carrera and Marta Barina

Palazzo Nervi Scattolin, Campo Manin, Venice
9 May – 7 June 2026
On view each night 8.30-11pm

Public Opening: 6 May, 8-11pm
Press Preview: 7-8 May, 8.30-11pm

Exclusively sponsored by Bottega Veneta
Collateral Event of the Biennale Arte 2026

Visual identity by Sebastiano Campoccia

It was in Paris in 1955 that Harry Seidler and Pier Luigi Nervi first crossed paths, leading to a fifteen-year collabora...
26/03/2026

It was in Paris in 1955 that Harry Seidler and Pier Luigi Nervi first crossed paths, leading to a fifteen-year collaboration.

Sustained through drawing, this partnership represents a distinctive Australian chapter in Nervi’s later international career.

Through Seidler, Studio Nervi’s distinctive structural language found both a dedicated interpreter and a highly influential local champion.



Fu a Parigi, nel 1955, che Harry Seidler e Pier Luigi Nervi si incontrarono per la prima volta, dando inizio a una collaborazione durata quindici anni.

Sostenuta tramite il disegno, questa collaborazione rappresenta un capitolo australiano di grande rilievo nella successiva carriera internazionale di Nervi.

Grazie a Seidler, il caratteristico linguaggio strutturale dello Studio Nervi trovò sia un interprete devoto che un sostenitore locale di grande influenza.



Australia Square through the keyhole, 1968. Architect Harry Seidler & Associates, Structural engineer Pier Luigi Nervi. © Penelope Seidler (Photographer Max Dupain).

Australian Embassy in Paris, ‘Nervi pilotis’, 1978. Architect Harry Seidler & Associates, Structural engineer Pier Luigi Nervi. © Penelope Seidler (Photographer Max Dupain).

MLC Center (now 25 Martin Place), Lobby ‘Nervi’ ceiling, 1979. Architect Harry Seidler & Associates, Structural engineer Pier Luigi Nervi. © Penelope Seidler (photographer Max Dupain).

Harry Seidler and Pier Luigi Nervi, Rome 1972. © Penelope Seidler (Photographer Peter O. Miller - using Harry Seidler’s camera).

Visual Identity ( )

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