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Solari di Udine SpA is an Italian company that designs and manufactures public information displays, historically
Solari di Udine SpA is an Italian company that designs and manufactures public information displays, historically split-flap display
A split-flap display, or sometimes simply a flap display, is a digital electromechanical display device that presents changeable alphanumeric text, and occasionally fixed graphics.
Often used as a public transport timetable in airports or ...
s. The company was founded in 1725 in Udine
Udine ( , ; fur, Udin; la, Utinum) is a city and ''comune'' in north-eastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Alps (''Alpi Carniche''). Its population was 100,514 in 2012, 176,000 with t ...
, a small town in northern Italy. Initially, the company specialized in clocks for towers. It began working with designer Gino Valle after World War II, and developed signs with four flaps, each with ten digits, to display the time. The company eventually designed displays with 40 flaps, with the help of Belgian inventor John Myer. The new displays could include numbers and letters, allowing for a much wider use.
The company's split-flap displays, commonly with white numbers on black flaps, won the Compasso d'Oro award in 1956. In this year, Solari sold its first moving sign to Liege railway station in Belgium. It subsequently sold thousands to airports and train stations. There is no known record of surviving Solari split-flap displays, though hundreds have been replaced with more modern displays across the world.
Specific displays
*For its conversion into theTWA Hotel
TWA Hotel is a hotel at John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, New York City, that opened on May 15, 2019. It utilizes the head house of the TWA Flight Center, designed in 1962 by the architect Eero Saarinen. The TWA Hotel project added ...
which opened in 2019, the full restoration of the TWA Flight Center
The TWA Flight Center, also known as the Trans World Flight Center, is an airport terminal and hotel complex at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). The original terminal building, or head house, operated as a terminal f ...
at John F. Kennedy International Airport
John F. Kennedy International Airport (colloquially referred to as JFK Airport, Kennedy Airport, New York-JFK, or simply JFK) is the main international airport serving New York City. The airport is the busiest of the seven airports in the Ne ...
included its classic Solari split-flap message board with authentic original mechanical operation manufactured in Italy in 1962.
* The Solari board at 30th Street Station
3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, operated there from the 1970s to 2018, the last to operate in an Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
station. The board was subsequently moved to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania
The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania is a railroad museum in Strasburg, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
The museum is located on the east side of Strasburg along Pennsylvania Route 741. It is administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museu ...
.
* Grand Central Terminal
Grand Central Terminal (GCT; also referred to as Grand Central Station or simply as Grand Central) is a commuter rail terminal located at 42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Grand Central is the southern terminus ...
in New York City operated a Solari board from 1967 to 1985. Its removal upset the public, though subsequent displays mimic some aspects of the Solari board.
See also
*Cifra 3
The Cifra 3 is a digital flip clock manufactured by Solari di Udine, S.p.A., Italy designed by Italian architect Gino Valle (1923–2003) in 1965, with significant contribution from John Myer, a Belgian inventor. The Cifra 3 is widely considered ...
References
External links
* {{Authority control Italian brands Italian companies established in 1725 Watch manufacturing companies of Italy Clock manufacturing companies