Aldo Rossi's 'The Architecture of the City' critiques functionalism and modernism, advocating for understanding cities through history, memory, and the permanence of form. It emphasizes the significance of autonomous monuments and collective memory in urban design, positioning architecture as a bridge between memory and society. Rossi's works illustrate that cities evolve over time, retaining their identity through adaptable forms and recognizable types.

1. Aldo Rossi The Architecture of the City

2. “The Architecture of the City” First published as L’architettura della citta in 1966 Proposes a return to reason & logic, history & memory, & the city The city must be valued as a construction over time

3. Themes Critique of Functionalism and Modernism’s utilitarian basis Autonomous monuments and the permanence of form A city of fragments, a city of monuments The memory structure of the city

4. Permanence of Form

5. Palazzo della Ragione Padua, Italy A City Hall from the 1200’s, converted into a marketplace Form is permanent and complex Form can be adapted to new uses Not “form follows function”

6. Project for the Coliseum Rome, Italy Project to transform the Coliseum into a forum for a centrally planned church Proposed by Carlo Fontana, 1707 Unrealized Maintains the idea that existing artifacts can be adapted for new uses “ Whereas the Functionalist seeks the greatest possible suitability to the most specific purpose, the Rationalist desires to obtain the greatest potential of adaptation to the largest number of needs”

7. Type and Elemental Forms

9. Teatro del Mondo Venice Biennale 1979-80 “ Theatre of the World” Simple, unornamented forms Recalls floating theatres characteristic of Venice in the 18th century Based on Rossi’s childhood memory of a puppet theatre

10. Type and Memory Reminiscent of De Chirico The city composed of recognizable types Types allow people to connect through collective memory Autonomous forms as archetypes Form follows memory

11. Fagnano Olona Primary School, Italy 1972-76

12. A “little city” The idea of theatre in the central space Large stair sets up view with class portrait in mind Rossi alludes to the time of childhood, as a memory

13. Time The presence of clocks indicates an event is over Roland Barthes saw this fixation in photography Like De Chirico’s paintings, Rossi’s architecture possesses a haunting, melancholy quality

14. San Cataldo Cemetery Modena, Italy 1971

15. Rossi won the competition for the project of extending the existing cemetery A city for the dead Strips detail Unbound by the constraints of time Here he subverts the corridor “type” to reflect on the silence and loneliness of death Ossuary building’s absence of windows marks the absence of inhabitants

16. Memory Structure of the City Nolli Map of Rome, 1748 The city designed as links from one monument to the next Mimics how our memories work Monuments and memory are fundamental to the city structure

17. Conclusion The city and its architecture are inseparable Permanence of form Type and elemental forms Type and memory Time Memory structure of the city

18. “ The architect masters meaning and, through it, he is able to enter into the process of society’s transformation”