Cementi nascosti. Pensiero, tecnica e sperimentazione nel cantiere-laboratorio di San Marco a Venezia

After the Second World War, St Mark's Basilica in Venice became a privileged site for testing consolidation tech-niques experimented by Ferdinando Forlati – architect in charge of the church conservation works – during his long career as Superintendent of Monuments in the regions of north-eastern Italy. Among the reiterated interventions, a specific mention must be done with refers to cement pressure injections and the reinforced concrete beam systems grafted into the historical masonry, rigorously hidden behind the rich marbles and mosaics. These interventions, carried out between 1948 and 1972, were not limited to the application of estab-lished practices: the experimental character was well represented by the study of new mortar compositions and dif-ferent injection pressures. The article aims to investigate these aspects of the complex transformative history of the building by deepening the study of the documentation conserved in the archives, critically framing the operations in the cultural panorama of reference, interested in monitoring this fragile monument-laboratory in the lagoon of Venice.