The exhibition will run at the gallery, located at the Sydney School of Architecture, Design & Planning, until September 7.

It will then move to the Australia Square Tower from September 18 to October 10.

Through a series of original work and new documentation, the exhibition will, for the first time, showcase the comprehensive work developed by Nervi and his office in Rome for Harry Seidler.

Nervi (1891–1979) was a structural engineer but also a revolutionary Italian master builder, architect and artist, who forged, through the invention of the Sistema Nervi – Nervi System – a new structural aesthetic for modern architecture.

His pioneering system was adopted all around the world to build some very famous buildings: the Rome Olympic Palasports; the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Assumption in San Francisco; the Field House at Dartmouth College in the USA; and many others.

In Australia, the Sistema Nervi was first adopted with the construction of the Australia Square Tower, designed by Harry Seidler.

The Australia Square Tower is an office and retail complex in Sydney’s CBD.

The building was first conceived in 1961 by Seidler and was completed in 1964 after extensive collaboration with Nervi.

Today, it remains a landmark building in Sydney and is regarded as iconic to Australian architecture.

The success of the famous circular tower led to a fruitful collaboration that lasted for more than 15 years.

The exhibition will shed light on unexpected affinities between the Italian and Australian construction industries, Roman and Milanese precedents used in modern Sydney, and an unlikely connection between an Italian factory and a revered Australian skyscraper. 

It will also feature a virtual reality component, where viewers can visit the Palazzo dello Sport in Rome, all the way from Sydney!

Curated by Paolo Stracchi, architectural engineer and lecturer in Architectural Technology at the School of Architecture, Design and Planning at the University of Sydney, this exhibition will pay tribute to the two men and their shared Australian legacy, casting light on its unexpected Italian affinities and celebrating it into the future.

For more information visit the Italian Institute of Culture’s website.