Solari di Udine

Solari di Udine, also known as Solari S.p.A., is an Italian manufacturer of public information displays and clocks associated especially with the mechanical split-flap boards that became familiar in railway stations, airports, and other transport environments. The company traces its history to 1725 in Pesariis, in the Val Pesarina area of Carnia, northeastern Italy, a region with a long tradition of clockmaking. Its original activity focused on clocks intended for towers and other public settings. After the Second World War, Solari expanded beyond conventional clockmaking through collaboration with the designer Gino Valle. This work led to electromechanical displays that could communicate information in a highly legible and visually distinctive manner. Early systems used four flaps, each carrying ten digits, to show the time. The concept was later expanded into larger arrays of approximately forty flaps, with assistance from the Belgian inventor John Myer. By incorporating letters as well as numbers, the displays could show train destinations, flight information, platform details, schedules, and other changing messages rather than merely the time. The company’s Cifra 5 clock received the Compasso d’Oro design award in 1956. In the same year, Solari supplied its first moving information sign to Liège railway station in Belgium. The product subsequently gained an international presence, with thousands of displays installed in railway stations and airports. Their operation depended on the controlled movement of individual panels, producing the characteristic clicking or flipping sequence associated with Solari boards. The displays combined mechanical durability, readability at a distance, and a strong industrial-design identity. Solari’s products became part of the visual culture of travel in the second half of the twentieth century. Examples appeared at major transport facilities including New York’s Pennsylvania Station, Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station, and the TWA Flight Center at John F. Kennedy International Airport. Many installations were eventually removed as electronic and digital signage became standard. Some, however, have been preserved or restored because of their historical and design value. The original board at Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station was transferred to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania after its station service ended, while the historic board at the former TWA Flight Center was retained and restored for the TWA Hotel, which opened in 2019. The company’s identity therefore spans two connected fields: public timekeeping and dynamic information display. Although split-flap technology has largely been displaced by modern electronic screens, Solari’s products remain culturally recognizable and continue to influence contemporary interior, hospitality, transport, and design projects. Solari has also been associated with display installations outside transport, including boards used in Starbucks Reserve Roasteries to identify coffee being roasted. In 2025, the company marked the three-hundredth anniversary of its origins, with Italy’s postal service issuing a commemorative stamp featuring the Cifra 3 clock.

Solari di Udine is rooted in the clockmaking tradition of Pesariis, in the Val Pesarina valley of Carnia in northeastern Italy. The company identifies its origins with 1725, when it was associated with the manufacture of clocks, particularly clocks intended for towers and other public architectural settings. This early specialization established the technical foundation for Solari’s later work in public timekeeping and information systems. Following the Second World War, Solari began developing a closer relationship with industrial and graphic design. Its work with Italian designer Gino Valle helped transform the public clock from a purely functional instrument into a carefully designed object suited to modern civic and transport environments. One important result was a display using four flaps, each carrying ten digits, to represent the time. The electromechanical mechanism allowed the visible information to change by rotating or flipping panels rather than by using conventional clock hands. The concept was subsequently enlarged. With help from Belgian inventor John Myer, Solari developed displays using approximately forty flaps. The expanded character set included letters as well as numbers, making it possible to present railway destinations, flight details, schedules, platform information, and other variable messages. This development was central to the company’s move from clock production into public information displays. Solari’s Cifra 5 clock won the Compasso d’Oro design award in 1956. That year the company also sold its first moving information sign to Liège railway station in Belgium. The product proved suitable for busy transport facilities because it was readable, mechanically direct, and capable of updating information one character at a time. Solari subsequently supplied thousands of displays to railway stations and airports internationally. During the second half of the twentieth century, Solari boards became a familiar part of the visual environment of travel. Installations were used at locations including Pennsylvania Station in New York, Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station, and the TWA Flight Center at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport. Their mechanical sound and sequentially changing characters gave them a distinctive identity, while their practical purpose was to communicate changing transport information clearly. The spread of electronic screens led to the replacement of many Solari installations. The board at Pennsylvania Station was removed in 1985, and the board at Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station operated until 2018 before being moved to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. The former TWA Flight Center provided a notable preservation example: during its conversion into the TWA Hotel, which opened in 2019, the original 1962 Solari board was restored and kept in mechanical operation. Other surviving or repurposed examples have appeared in cultural, commercial, and hospitality settings, including Starbucks Reserve Roasteries. Solari’s legacy is consequently broader than the continuing use of any single display. Its products are associated with Italian industrial design, the history of transport infrastructure, and the transition from mechanical to electronic public communication. In 2025, Solari celebrated the three-hundredth anniversary of its 1725 origins. Italy’s postal service commemorated the occasion with a stamp depicting the Cifra 3 clock, linking the company’s historic clockmaking activity with its modern cultural significance.

• 2025

  Three-hundredth anniversary commemorated

  [1]Solari di Udineen.wikipedia.org

  Solari marked three hundred years since its stated 1725 origins, and Italy’s postal service issued a commemorative stamp featuring the Cifra 3 clock.

• 2019

  TWA Flight Center board restored

  [1]Solari di Udineen.wikipedia.org

  The historic TWA display was restored as part of the conversion of the terminal into the TWA Hotel.

• 2018

  Philadelphia station board leaves active service

  [1]Solari di Udineen.wikipedia.org

  The Solari board at Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station, in operation since the 1970s, was removed and later transferred to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.

• 1962

  TWA Flight Center display manufactured

  [1]Solari di Udineen.wikipedia.org

  A Solari split-flap message board manufactured in Italy was installed at the TWA Flight Center at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

• 1956

  Cifra 5 receives the Compasso d’Oro

  [1]Solari di Udineen.wikipedia.org

  The Cifra 5 public clock received the Compasso d’Oro, one of Italy’s best-known industrial-design awards.

• 1956

  First moving information sign supplied to Liège

  [1]Solari di Udineen.wikipedia.org

  Solari supplied its first moving information sign to Liège railway station in Belgium, beginning the international expansion of its display systems.

• 1725

  Origins in Pesariis

  [1]Solari di Udineen.wikipedia.org

  Solari traces its origins to 1725 in Pesariis, in the Val Pesarina valley of Carnia, where it was associated with clock manufacture.

A specialist Italian manufacturer positioned at the intersection of public timekeeping, transport information systems, electromechanical engineering, and industrial design. Its historical differentiation comes from durable, highly legible split-flap displays that functioned as both infrastructure and recognizable design objects.

• Public clock

  Cifra clock series

  The Cifra family consists of electromechanical public clocks developed for clear time display in architectural and public environments. The Cifra 5 received the Compasso d’Oro in 1956, while the Cifra 3 later became the subject of an Italian commemorative stamp marking Solari’s three-hundredth anniversary. The series represents the company’s continuing connection to public clockmaking and Italian industrial design.

• Public information display · 1956

  Solari split-flap information displays

  Solari’s split-flap displays use rows of mechanically rotated panels to change letters and numbers. Early systems were developed to show time, while later larger arrays could communicate destinations, schedules, platform information, and flight details. Their high visibility and characteristic mechanical operation made them widely associated with railway stations and airports around the world.

• Transport information system · 1956

  Railway and airport information boards

  Solari supplied dynamic information boards for transport facilities, including railway stations and airports. These systems adapted the split-flap mechanism for changing operational information such as arrivals, departures, destinations, and platforms. Thousands were reportedly sold internationally before electronic displays displaced most mechanical boards.

1. 1Solari di Udineen.wikipedia.org