This work is the first to comprehensively discuss the reconstruction of the bell tower of S. Marco in Venice, which collapsed in 1903. Its reconstruction (completed by 1912) was considered a radically new work of contemporary Italian architecture and no longer as a mere operation of restoration. In this context, we examine contributions by Luca Beltrami, Daniele Donghi and Arturo Danusso – all of Lombard or Piedmontese origin – on the (re)construction of an architectural organism that left it radically different from the preexisting medieval one. The result of the best Italian architectural and engineering culture between the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, the new San Marco bell tower was a fundamental success in the context of the 20th-century use of load-bearing masonry and reinforced concrete in new high-rise buildings. The contribution of Danusso in particular is addressed regarding the crucial transformation he made to the structure of the new bell tower compared to that designed by its previous designers.
