Cagliari, Cassa per il Mezzogiorno pavilion

The pavilion is inside the enclosure of the Sardinia Trade Fair.
The pavilion was built in 1953 to publicize the activities of the Cassa per il Mezzogiorno on the island. Today, the transformation of the initial intervention with the closure of the walls and further changes is visible.
Also due to failures that occurred in the structure, probably already during the original construction, the construction underwent a radical transformation in 1973 with the intervention of Ubaldo and Roberto Badas. The pavilion has been closed along the entire perimeter: on the main front, the walls are detached from the roof by glazed parts and are preceded by a canopy; on the sides the walls are windowed with translucent elements that allow it to be used also as a conference space. This is the environment commonly called “Figari room” by the author of the painting depicting “The Festival of Saint Constantine” (1927), already placed in the Sardinian pavilion of the Fiera di Milano until 1940.
The initial construction, designed by the architect Adalberto Libera with the collaboration of the engineer Giovanni Girardet for the static part, was distinguished by the happy invention of a hovering outdoor “tent”, such as to guarantee ample ventilation and shaded space.
Based on a square of 26 m on each side, the pavilion was practically a reinforced concrete roof resting on four different supports, with two folded sails. Instead of the roof slope, there was a sharp cut according to the longitudinal axis, while the two frames and a secondary structure of 10 transverse beams covered the inner plane, intended to exhibit photographs and diagrams relating to the activity of the Box inside shelves protected by glass.

Bibliography
L. Quaroni, “Cassa per il Mezzogiorno Pavilion in Cagliari”, in Architecture, 1, 1955, pp. 21-22; V. Quilici, Adalberto Libera.
Architecture as Ideal, Rome, 1981, pp. 38, 182-183;
G. Loddo, Guide to Contemporary Architecture of Cagliari 1945-1995, Cagliari, Coedisar, 1996, p. 53;
Adalberto Libera, edited by F. Garofano-L. Varesani, Bologna, Zanichelli, 1989, pp. 160-161; Adalberto Libera.
Complete work, exhibition catalog, Milan, Electa, 1989, pp. 96-97, 100, 186;
F. Masala, Architecture from the Unification of Italy to the End of the 20th Century. Nuoro, Ilisso, 2001, sheet 151;
G. Loddo, The Casmez Pavilion by Adalberto Libera at the Cagliari Fair, Cagliari, CUEC, 2001;
Adalberto Libera in the post-war period: the Cagliari experience, edited by A. Fassio, Sassari, Carlo Delfino, 2005, pp. 102-139.