Aldo Rossi was an Italian architect and theorist known for his rational modern style. One of his most famous works is the San Cataldo Cemetery in Modena, Italy completed in 1971. The cemetery complex features a red cubic ossuary at the entrance and parallel running ossuaries representing the human bone structure. Another notable work is the Scholastic Building in New York City from 2001, which fits into the historic context of Soho through uniform height and materials but stands out with its cylindrical columns and ornate rear facade.

1. ALDO ROSSI (1931-1937)
Italian Architect, Theorist, Product Designer
‘Caught between the classical world and the industrial world’.

2. “One can say that the city itself is the collective memory of its
people, and like memory it is associated with objects and
places. The city is the locus of the collective memory.”
“The Architecture of the City”
Aldo Rossi

3. SAN CATALDO CEMETERY
MODENA ITALY
Architect: ALDO ROSSI
Year of completion: 1971
Location: Modena, Italy
Type: Cemetery Complex
Style: Neo Rationalism

4. Entrance
Gateway Red cubic ossuary,
Funeral Structure
Communal Grave
Parallel running
ossuary
Wide green areas
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aldo_Rossi,_Modena_C
emetery,_Model,_c.1983.jpg.png

5. The Bounding Wall of
the Complex
Source:
http://rubens.anu.edu.au/htdocs/laserdisk/0242/24216.JPG The interior
EXTERIORS
• Unadorned exteriors
• Static Volume
• Uniformity in
openings
• Discomforting Space
Source: http://www.archinomy.com/case-studies/1922/aldo-rossi

6. RED CUBE STRUCTURE
Source: http://www.studyblue.com/notes/note/n/arc-
318l-final-buildings/deck/1661624
Source:
http://rubens.anu.edu.au/htdocs/surveys/mo
darch/byarch/display00242.html
Ossuary, funeral
structure
Rhythmic articulation of openings
interrupted by the ossuary cube
Square Pillars, Square windows,
Symmetrical stripped architecture

7. INTERIORS
• No Floor Slabs
• No Roof
• Windows and Doors
Source: http://www.archdaily.com/95400/ad-classics-
san-cataldo-cemetery-aldo-rossi/
“House of Dead”
Shell of
Openings

8. RIB-LIKE OSSUARIES
Source:
http://rubens.anu.edu.au/htdocs/surveys/mo
darch/byarch/display00242.html
Increase in height as length decreases
Series of Parallel running Ossuaries
representing Bone Structure in humans
Central vertebral axis
Uniformity of negative spaces

9. Communal Grave
Conical Grave at the End of
the Complex
Source:
http://rubens.anu.edu.au/htdocs/surveys/mo
darch/byarch/display00242.html
Shape representing the
industrial Landscape beyond
the site

10. TEATRO DEL MONDO
Architect: ALDO ROSSI
Construction year: 1979
Location: Venice, Italy
Type: temporary theatre
Style: modern
According to Rossi theatres were “ places where architecture ends and world of
imagination begins

11. http://www.archidose.org/Feb99/rossi2.jpg
Rossi's repeated use of familiar
architectural elements create a
feeling of a place vaguely
remembered.
“OBSERVATION IS THE BEST ARCHITECTURAL SCHOOL”

12. PLANS
FIRST FLOOR PLANGROUND FLOOR PLAN
ROOF PLAN

13. Section and elevations

14. Structure
http://en.wikiarquitectura.com/images/0/0a/I
magen_virtual_8.jpg
Central stage
Upper galleries
Zinc cladded
roof
Tubular steel
frame
Wooden
cladding

15. Bonnefanten museum ,Maastricht
http://www.holland.com/upload_mm/0/d/2/6398_fullimage_maastricht_bonnefant
en_museum_560x350.jpg
Architect: ALDO ROSSI
Construction year: 1992
Location: Maastricht,
Netherlands
Type: Museum
Style: Post modern

16. Is the museum a collection of mementoes of
life or is it itself a part of our lives? My
architecture leaves an open verdict in this
regard."

17. The design of the building is symmetrical and forms an E-shape
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-
EsEglcgTOqU/UNedBTo3QwI/AAAAAAAAAGw/So455PqkQjw/s640/bonnefanten.jpg
Axis of the building
http://www.cultuurnetwerk.nl/producten_en_diensten/bronnenbu
ndels/2000/2000_97c.jpg
PLAN

18. Entrance

19. Rossi was a great product designer. Connection between his objects and
architecture were obvious. His timeless designs are based on simple geometrics,
primal forms. His Architecture was based on form.

20. Façade treatment
Zinc claddingRed brick cladding
Use of square windows

21. Building features
http://www.bonnefanten.
nl/content/upload/crop/cr
op_14561_colw_358.jpg
Central staircase with 4 story
wall height
http://www.marc-kocher.com/img/aldo_rossi_225x277.jpg
Circular skylight

22. SCHOLASTIC BUILDING
SOHO, NEW YORK
Architect: ALDO ROSSI
Year of completion: 2001
Location: Soho- a
neighbourhood to Ney York
Style: Post Modern

23. 6,700-square-foot store with the company's books,
magazines, CD-ROM's, videos, games, puzzles, toys and art
supplies.
Basement 299-seat auditorium
Penthouses
Green House atrium
Resource centre, Living Room, Offices,
Source: http://phaidonatlas.com/node/204196

24. A Building Fits in by Standing Out
Source: http://phaidonatlas.com/node/204196
TO FIT IN
• Uniformity in Height
and Scale

25. Source:
http://huntersandgatherersathome.blogspot.in/2010_0
7_01_archive.html Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singer_Building
SCHOLASTIC BUILDING LITTLE SINGER BUILDING
• COLUMNAR
FACADE
• SAME COLOURS
USED
• DEEPLY RECESSED
CURTAIN WALLS
• CONSTRUCTION
TECHNIQUE USED-
“KIT OF PARTS”

26. TO STAND OUT
Source: http://www.nyc-
architecture.com/SOH/SOH001.htm

27. • MATERIAL USED
SCHOLASTIC BUILDING
LITTLE SINGER BUILDING
Source: http://www.nyc-
architecture.com/SOH/SOH001.htm
Source: http://clapforbacon.blogspot.in/2011/08/cast-
iron-landmarks-in-soho.html
• CYLINDRICAL
COLUMNS
STEEL, GLASS TERRACOTA,CAST
IRON, BRICK
FRONT FACADE
REAR FACADE
• MONUMENTAL
REAR FACADE
RED ARCHES
5 TIERS OF TWO
STORIES

28. • BOLTED
HORIZONTAL
STEEL BEAMS
• DETAILING
ROOF
CORNICE
Source: http://www.nyc-
architecture.com/SOH/SOH001.htm
SCHOLASTIC BUILDING LITTLE SINGER BUILDING
Source: http://clapforbacon.blogspot.in/2011/08/cast-
iron-landmarks-in-soho.html
Trabeated façade constructed with
steel lintels
Extremely ornate roof cornice with
iron brackets
• FAÇADE
DETAIL

29. INTERIORS
CAFÉ INSIDE THE BUILDING
Source: http://www.libertychurchnyc.com/lower-
manhattan-church-services-new-york-city/
Use of Steel inside as outside
PERFORMING ARTS THEATRE
Modelled on
Palladio’s 16th
Century
theatre
Source: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/scholastic-
auditorium-and-greenhouse-with-rooftop-terrace-new-york-
2?select=stnt0b09cRQUcKtG0vIOCQ#RZ0E_zLsUeIzuaU0Kr-
GGw
Teatro Olimpico (16th century Palladian Theatre)

30. arch critic Paul Goldberger, for one, has described the
building as one that "will teach generations of
architects the proper way to respond to historic contexts."

31. REFFERENCES
• http://www.archinomy.com/case-studies/1922/aldo-rossi
• http://huntersandgatherersathome.blogspot.in/2010_07_01_archive.html
• http://www.scholastic.com/eventservices/eventservices.htm
• http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2013/06/05/the_scholastic_building_a_newcomer_steeped_in_history.ph
p
• http://turismo.comune.modena.it/english/thematic-channels/discover-the-area/art-and-culture/modern-
architecture/san-cataldo-cemetery-by-aldo-rossi
• http://www.archdaily.com/95400/ad-classics-san-cataldo-cemetery-aldo-rossi/