ALDO ROSSI – ARCHITECT AND THEORIST.

THE DILEMMAS OF ARCHITECTURE

JUSTYNA WOJTAS SWOSZOWSKA

From a 21st century perspective the characteristic foremost his theory of Neo-Rational architecture,
work of Aldo Rossi (1931-1997)2, the Italian architect, explained in masterly fashion in numerous essays
theorist, artist, and designer, may look anachronistic. and treatises. To present an honest evaluation of Aldo
Today, he is considered a representative of Rossi’s work against the background of changes
postmodernism, though he referred to himself as in architecture in the second half of the twentieth
a premodernist3. In his designs he applied historical century, we must look at his work in its entirety.
canons, taking them without “a pinch of salt”, as did
many postmodernists who followed Robert Venturi. The Mediterranean origin of historical tendencies
His inspirations were derived from the world around in architecture
him, since he considered observation to be the best
school of architecture. He used the basic Platonic Aldo Rossi’s career in architecture began in the
solids, from which, as if from building blocks, he 1960s, when the rapid economic growth of developed
created monumental architecture, concise in form countries made clear the ineffectuality of the doctrines
or almost fairy-tale like (ill. 1, 2). Karen Stein4, of mature modernism. In philosophy, politics,
an American architecture critic, sees a similarity culture, art, a period of postmodernism began, a time
between the creations of Aldo Rossi and the looks of of violating modernist doctrines. In architecture, the
Pinocchio, Carlo Collodi’s Þctional character: “his paradigm of the modernist movement was questioned
cylindrical body, gangly columnar legs and arms, and a “revolution the against revolution”7 began. A
spherical head, and cone-shaped nose are Rossi’s true revolution was the return to historic forms. From
architecture anthropomorphized”5. The architect the middle of the 1960s, Postmodernist architecture
indeed identiÞed himself with that “easy but also started to negate the rigorous rules of modern style,
neurotic, in between two worlds”6. Rossi’s output reaching back to history, regional traditions, being
includes not only the easily recognizable forms of playful and populist8. Among its pioneers are,
buildings, sketches and design projects, but Þrst and undoubtedly, Robert Venturi and Aldo Rossi, whose

1
The article makes use of unpublished material from the Press, 1991). In the introduction Rossi thanks Karen Stein for
doctoral thesis titled Neoracjonalizm Aldo Rossiego – g!ówne her wonderful promotion of his architecture in America.
za!o"enia teoretyczne i ich wp!yw na twórczo#$ architektoniczn 5
K. Stein, Il Celeste Della Madonna, in: M. Adjmi ed., op. cit.,
(1998, promoter Prof. Andrzej Niezabitowski, D.Sc Eng. p. 269.
Arch.) and of the author’s notes for lectures on contemporary 6
M. Adjmi ed., op. cit., p.161.
architecture delivered at the Fac. of Arch., Silesian University 7
A. L. Huxtable, The Troubled State of Modern Architecture,
of Technology. New York Review of Books, 1980, no. 1, p. 22-29.
2
Aldo Rossi was born in Milan, May 3, 1931, into a devout 8
Postmodernist architecture reached its pinnacle in 1980, when
Catholic family. During the war, he moved with his family to it was accorded a separate exhibition at the Venice Biennale,
Lake Como, where he attended primary school. He graduated entitled “The Presence of the Past”, curated by Paolo Portoghesi
from the A. Volta Archdiocesan Catholic Secondary School and Robert AM Stern. Its motto was: “Again one can learn
in Lecco. Many critics think that his Catholic upbringing from tradition and connect one’s work with the valuable
determined the restrained form of his architectural style and and beautiful works of the past”: B. Gadomska, A. Gli$ski,
Rossi agreed with this view. Obecno#$ przesz!o#ci, in “Architektura”, 1982, no. 2(408), p.
3
A. Rossi, P. Portoghesi, Interview by Antonio de Bonis, in 25. The Biennale in Venice occassioned controversy as to how
“Architectural Design”, 1982, issue. 52, p. 14. A dozen or so to deÞne the tendency of returning to history in architecture. A
years ago, the issue of “departmentalizing” of Aldo Rossi’s variety of options for the title of the exhibition were proposed:
architecture was widely discussed. Many critics were of the “The Architecture of Post – Modern”, “Dopo l’architerttura
opinion that Neo-Rationalism and Postmodernism are quite moderna”, “Postmodern Architecture”, “Postmodern”, “La
different, even opposing movements, even opposing; see: W. Mostra sul Postmodernismo”, “POSTMODERNISM”. Finally,
Kosi$ski, Pos!owie, in: Ch. Jencks, Architektura pó%nego the name “The Presence of the Past” was decided on. In 1981,
modernizmu, Arkady, Warszawa 1989, p.188. in France, the exhibition was held under the title “The Presence
4
Co-author of a monograph of Aldo Rossi: M. Adjmi ed., of History: After Modernity”: L. C. Szacka, Historicism versus
Aldo Rossi. The Complete Buildings and Projects 1981 - 1991, Communication. The Big Debate at the 1980 Biennale, in
Thames & Hudson, London 1992 (1st ed. Princeton Architectural “Architectural Design”, September 2011, s. 98-105.

64
work differs as much as American Hollywood to differentiate it from the abstract rationalism of
Postmodernism differs from the more restrained international architecture.
Postmodernism of Europe. In the postwar reconstruction of Italy there was
One of the classic texts on the theory and philosophy a continuation of the prewar traditions13. Paolo
of contemporary architecture is Robert Venturi’s Portoghesi considered it quite natural that in a
well known book Complexity and Contradiction in predominantly agricultural country such as Italy
Architecture (1966)9. In it he encourages readers was in the Þrst years after the war, the old masters
to study historical styles, appreciate multivalence, maintained a dialogue with history14. The rapid
complexity and heterogeneity in architecture; he development of the Italian economy in the second
negates the restraint of Mies van der Rohe, insisting half of the 1950s, aided by the Marshall Plan,
that “more is not less”10. In his spectacular work he accelerated industrialization, especially in the
made use of historical motifs in a playfully ironic northern part of the country. Migration from the
manner, introducing them into a new context. At rural south to the cities of the north intensiÞed the
the same time, in Europe, Italian architects were urbanization process, growth of towns and large
the forerunners in the search for new architectural housing estates, built according to the principles
paradigms, something emphatically stressed by the of functional architecture. The ensuing problems
brilliant architect and theorist Paolo Portoghesi11. In became the subject of a debate on the relations
Italy, both in the interwar and postwar period, there between avant-garde architecture, functional and
were speciÞc conditions in favour of an architecture tradition.
which combined history and modernity. In the Since the 1950s, as a result of numerous
1920s, when functional architecture took on a totally publications which touched upon the importance
abstract form, Italy was in the throes of Fascism. of context in urban and architectural planning and
This was one of the reasons why functionalism did theoretical studies on the subject, the theoretical
not dominate the Italian avant-garde, associated with foundations of architecture based on traditional
Giuseppe Terragni and called “Italian Rationalism”12, values developed in Italy. In 1953, Ernesto Nathan
Rogers15, an architect and member of the BBPR16

9
Vincent Scully, a well-known American art historian and Toronto, Buffalo, London 2010, p. 168. One instance of such a
teacher of architectural history, in the foreword to the Þrst dialogue could be the vernacular architecture of the “Villaggio”
edition (1966) called it probably the most important writing (village) of La Martella, Matera (1951), built under the direction
on the making of architecture since Le Corbusier’s Vers Une of Lodovico Quaroni.
Architecture: R. Venturi, Complexity and Contradiction in 15
Ernesto Nathan Rogers continued the ideas of the prewar
Architecture, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2 ed, Italian Rationalists and in this way instilled in the young
1977, p. 6. generation of architects a respect for Italy’s cultural heritage. He
10
R. Venturi, op. cit., p.16. is a cousin of Richard Rogers, the well-known English architect
11
P. Portoghesi, After modern architecture, New York, Rizoli of late modernism and high-tech.
1982. 16
Its initiators were young architects, among them: Franco
12
Progressive architects from Gruppo 7, in their creative Albini, Roberto Gabetti, Ignazio Gardella, Vittorio Gregotti,
manifesto “Note”, published in 1926 in “Ressegna Italiana” Aimaro Oreglia D’Isola, Giuseppe Raineri, who were later joined
proclaimed: “The is no incompatibility between our past and our by Ignacio Gardella and BBPR. BBPR was formed in 1932
present. We do not want to break with tradition; it is tradition by Gianluigi BanÞ, Lodovico Barbiano di Belgiojoso, Enrico
which transforms itself and assumes new aspects by which few Peressutti, Ernesto Nathan Rogers. During the interwar period
may recognise it. (...) The new architecture, the true architecture they favoured the assumptions of Italian Rationalism. After the
must result from a rigid adherence to logic, to rationality”: T. war, they continued their architectural activity as BBPR, despite
Kirk, Italian Rationalism: Gruppo 7 & Giuseppe Terragni, the death of BanÞ in a concentration camp. An interesting
MIAR & Adalberto Libera, in The Architecture of Modern Italy, example of the confrontation of various tendencies in Italian
vol.2, Princeton Architectural Press, New York 2005, p. 74. architecture is the Torre Velasca building (1954-58) in Milan,
13
Just after the war, one of the most urgent tasks was the building designed by BBPR as a polemic with the modern Pirelli ofÞce
of housing. In 1947, at the VIIIth Triennale in Milan, the idea was building, designed by Gio Ponti (1950). The former building
conceived of building a prefabricated housing district, the QT8. refering in form and detail to the medieval Palazzo Vecchio in
The chief designer was Piero Bottoni, a prewar Italian rationalist, the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, is considered one of the
member of the Gruppo 7 and, together with G. Terragni, a Þrst examples of architectural citing historical forms after the
delegate of the Italian section of CIAM in 1929 r. The district period of mature Modernism, and was criticized for eclectism
was built partly on an artiÞcial hill called Monte Stella, created and regionalism. Reyner Bahnam accused Italian architects of
using the debris of houses destroyed during the war. “infantile regression”: M. Sabatini, op. cit., p. 167.
14
M. Sabatini, Pride In Modesty. Modernist Architecture and
the Vernacular Tradition In Italy, University of Toronto Press,

65
group, architectural critic and journalist reactivated publications entitled Architettura Razionale23. The
the prewar magazine “Casabella” under the new exhibition and catalogue brought international
name “Casabella Continuità”17. Six years later, in recognition to the Italian design theory, which,
1959, Giuseppe Samonà, one of the foremost Italian to differentiate it from Italian Rationalism and the
architects, town planners and theoreticians of the rationalism of the Age of Enlightenment, was named
twentieth century, published a pioneering book about Neo-Rationalism. The theory was accepted by young
the planning and future of the city L’urbanistica European architects, among others the brothers
e l’avvenire della città18 and, at the Instituto Robert and Leon Krier, Mario Botta, Giorgio Grassi,
Universitaro di Archittetura in Venice19, typological O. Mathias Ungers. In fact, thus was formed the
studies were initiated. Þrst decidedly antimodernist movement of the
From the middle of the 1960s, Italian architecture second half of the twentieth century originating in
developed along two tracks, the avant-garde, for Europe24 and becoming an alternative for the ironic
instance Superstudio and Archizoom Associati, postmodernism inspired by the creations of Venturi.
and the conservative, e.g. La Tendenza20. The La Among the numerous diffuse trends active in the
Tendenza movement united Italian architects writing 1970s, this movement had a direct inßuence on the
for “Casabella” and the students of E. Nathan world avant-garde, also in Poland25. The theory of
Rogers, whose name became in some measure the Neo-Rational architecture was popularized by Aldo
mark of the movement21. Rossi in his writings, teaching and designs and that
In the second half of the 1960s, three works were is why he is generally considered the originator of
published in Italy which widened the postulates of Neo-Rationalism in 20th century architecture.
La Tendenza: L’Architettura della città (1966) by
Aldo Rossi, Il territorio dell’architettura (1966) Aldo Rossi – the early days
by Vittorio Gregotti and Giorgio Grassi’s La
costruzione logica dell’architettura (1967). At the Aldo Rossi was concerned with the theory of urban
XVth Triennale in Milan, in 1973, Aldo Rossi was planning and architecture in the 1950s, when he was
the director of Sezione Internazionale di Architettura still a student at the Department of Architecture
and co-author of the exhibition “Architettura-città”22, of the Milan Technical University (Politecnico di
which, together with a commentary, appeared in Milano) 26. In the Þrst years of study he was more

17
An architectural magazine founded in Milan in 1928 roku, 22
Together with Ezio Bonfanti, Rosaldo Bonicalzi and Massimo
identiÞed with Italian Rationalism. Closed down in 1943 by Scolari.
decree of the Ministry of Culture. 23
A. Rossi, Architettura Razionale, in: „XV Triennale di Milano,
18
G. Samonà, L’urbanistica e l’avvenire delle città negli stati Sezione Internazionale de Architettura”, Franco Angeli, Milan,
europei, Laterza, Bari 1959. 1973, (English version Rational Architecture in: P. Keogh, S.
19
Institute founded in 1926 (from 2001 Università Iuav di O’Donnell, S. O’Toole, Aldo Rossi, Gandon Editions, Dublin
Venezia). Giuseppe Samonà was active at the institute from 1983, p. 54-57. The co-authors of the exhibition catalogue
1936 and, after, the war, until 1971, was its director (replaced by were: E. Bonfanti, R. Bonicalzi, G. Braghieri, F. Raggi, A.
Carlo Scarpa, and in the years 1974 – 79 by Carlo Aymonino). Rossi, M. Scolari, D. Vitale. At the exhibition were shown the
In the teaching and research work of the institute, Samonà tried works of both Italian architects and of sympathizers of Neo-
to combine architectural and urban design. At the Instituto Rationalism from outside Italy – the brothers Leon i Robert Krier
Universitaro di Archittetura in Venice, considered the second from Luksemburg and the New York Five. The exhibits were
most important school in Italy, many known Italian architects
supplemented by a presentation of the European avant-garde of
and architectural theorists were active. Among them were:
the 1930s. On the occasion of the exhibition Rossi, together with
from 1949 Franco Albini, Ignazio Gardella, Bruno Zevi (taught
Gianni Braghieri and Franco Raggi directed a Þlm with the same
history of architecture and history of art), from 1950 Saverio
title as Adolf Loos’ essay “Ornamento e Delitto”. The Þlm was
Muratori, 1954 Ludovico Belgioioso, Carlo Scarpa, 1954
Ludovico Belgioioso, Giancarlo De Carlo. In the years 1963 a collage of fragments of architecture with fragments of Þlms
– 68, among the new arrivals were Carlo Aymonino, Leonardo by Fellini and Visconti, an effort to present architecture in the
Benevolo, Manfredo Tafuri. context of human existence.
20
La Tendenza is often equated with Neo-Rationalism: K.
24
Young Neo-Rationalists were also sometimes referred to as
Frampton, Modern Architecture, a Critical History, Thames “rats”.
and Hudson Ltd, 3rd ed., 1992. Aldo Rossi deÞnes La Tendenza
25
In Polish architecture, A. Rossi’s inßuence was especially
as “a movement which, in the years 1960 – 70, was opposed to evident in the 1990s.
modern architecture”. See K. Broner, Metafyysisen rationalismin 26
Aldo Rossi began his studies in 1949. In 1955 he continued
arkkitehtuurista in “Arkkitehti”, 1984, no. 5, p. 24 - 35. them in Prague and travelled around the Soviet Union , a country
21
La Tendenza was compared to Neo-Realism in Þlm (Antonioni, which, as he later often stated, made a great impression on him.
Visconti, Pasolini), a new art created basing on the history of the In the same year he began to write for “Casabella Continuità”.
country. In 1956 he began work at the design studio of Ignazio Gardella

66
interested in Neoclassicism but under the inßuence research and creative work. The middle of the 1960s
of his charismatic tutors Ernesto Nathan Rogers saw a culmination of Rossi’s interest in the mutual
and Giuseppe Samonà, he turned his attention to relations between the typology and morphology of
the problems of Italian urban planning, housing and cities. The architect began to utilize the results of
town development. Years later, when remembering his research both in his journalistic writings and in
his studies, he notes that the crisis of the modernist his teaching work. First, in 1961, invited by Hans
movement caused genuine confusion in the area of Schmidt, he went to East Germany to give a series of
design and teaching of architecture. Avant-garde guest lectures at the Berlin Deutsche Bauakademie.
functionalism based the theory of design on several Next, in 1963, as assistant to Lodovico Quaroni, he
Þxed notions, such as “method” and “function”. When participated in workshops on urban planning at the
the Modernist movement broke down, the “recipe” Scuola Urbanistica in Arezzo. At the same time, he
for design also failed. According to Rossi, an aid in was an assistant to Carlo Aymonino at the Instituto
the search for new foundations for designing was Universitario di Architettura in Venice, where, until
Giuseppe Samonà’s book27. Its author, countering 1965, he conducted research and gave seminars on the
the evident stagnation of architectural techniques, typology and morphology of cities30. Rossi presented
pointed to a new basis for design inspiration and the results of his research in many publications31,
studies – the city, perceived for the Þrst time in its of which among the best known today is the essay
entirety, as an unceasing process of evolution28. Architettura per i musei32, where Rossi declares
For Aldo Rossi and the development of theoretical “the search for a real, useful theory of design (…),
studies of the new architecture, an important period as an integral part of the theory of architecture”33.
was his cooperation with “Casabella Continuità”29. After ending his cooperation with Carlo Aymonino,
The writing of articles meant that he needed to Þnd out Rossi was appointed professor at the Department of
about the social and political realities of the country Architecture of the Milan Technical University34 and
and provided him with a theoretical basis for his later shortly, in 1966, published his creative manifesto

and Marco Zanuso. In 1959 he defended his diploma work and of Neo-Rationalism: S. Muratori, Vita e storia delle citta, w
graduated and, at this time, also began his cooperation with the „Rassegna critica d’architettura”, 1950, nr 11-12, s. 3-52; S.
journal “Il Contemporaneo” in Milan. Muratori, Studi per un operante storia urbana di Venezia,
27
G. Samonà, L’urbanistica e l’avvenire…, op. cit. PoligraÞco dello Stato, Roma 1959. Considered the “spiritual
28
A. Rossi, Architecture for Museums, in: P. Keogh, S. father” of Aldo Rossi and Carlo Aymonino.
O’Donnell, S. O’Toole, op.cit., p. 14 – 25 (1st ed.: Architettura 31
Material for classes for the academic year 1963/64 were
per i musei, 1966). published in Considerazioni sulla morphologia urbana e la
29
From 1955-58 he occasionally wrote articles for the journal tipologia edilizia and I problemi tipologici e la residenza w
(no. 208 - 219). From 1958-60 he was part of the research team Aspetti e problemi della tipologia edilizia, Libreria Cluva,
(no. 221-284), from 1961 - 64 was a member of the editing Venezia 1964, p. 15 -31.
board (no. 249 - 294). After publishing 31 articles, he ended
32
A. Rossi, Architettura per i musei, 1966, w: G. Canella,
writing for “Casabella” in 1964 when Rogers left (nr 294-295). M. Coppa, V. Gregotti, A. Rossi, A. Samonà, G. Samonà, L.
The journal stopped coming out in the same year; see: P. Keogh, Semerani, G. Scimemi, M. Tafuri, Teoria della progettazione
P; O’Donnell, S. O’Toole, op. cit. architettonica, Dedalo Libri, Bari 1968, s. 122-13, on the basis
of material from the school year of 1965/66. Edition cited in the
30
M. Bandini, Typological Theories in Architectural Design, in
article: Architecture for Museums, translation by Luigi Beltrand
Companion to Contemporary Architectural Thought, B. Farmer,
in: P. Keogh, op. cit., p. 14 – 25.
H. Louw, Routledge, London, 1993, p. 385–395. Rossi’s 33
A. Rossi, Architecture for Museums, op. cit, p. 15. The issues
mentors when he was conducting this research were Giuseppe
discussed in this essay are developed in: A. Rossi, La città come
Samonà i Saverio Muratori. His theoretical foundation was fondamento dello studio dei caratteri degli ediÞce, in Raporti
based on the theory of Giulio Carlo Argan, a well-known Italian tra morfologia urbana e tipologia edilizia, Cluva, Venice
historian and art critic, an advocate for the protection of the 1966 (English version The City as the Basis for the Study of the
environment and the historic context of Italian cities. Especially Characters of Buildings, translation by J. Landry, in: P. Keogh, op.
important were the notions referring to typology published cit. p. 27-33.
in the encyclopedia of art: G. C. Argan, entry: Typologia in 34
At the same time, he kept up contacts with Catalonian
Enciclopedia Universale dell’Arte, no. 1, vol. XIV, Fondazione architects. In 1971 the Ministry of Education barred Rossi
Cini, Venice 1958. See. M. Bandini, op. cit., p. 390. As to his and seven other teachers from the Department of Architecture
interest in typology Giuseppe Samonà writes in the introduction in Milan from teaching in Italy because of their political and
to the book: G. Samonà, L ‘unità Architettura urbanistica. cultural convictions. This did not stop him giving lectures
Scritti e progetti 1929-1973, P. Lovero, Franco Angeli, Milano from 1972-75 at the Department of Architecture of the Zurich
1978. Severio Muratori, architect and theoretician specialized in Technical University. In 1975 he was again allowed to teach
studies of the typomorphology of the city, mainly Venice. His in Italy but he returned to the Department of Architecture in
early publications were of great importance for the development Venice, not Milan.

67
L’Architettura della città35, which is often compared visible image of the city and the sum of its different
with Robert Venturi’s Complexity and Contradiction architectures, but architecture as construction, the
in Architecture, published the same year. The construction of the over time”39. The city undergoes
book is a collection of the basic principles shaping a double process: Þrst of all it is an object which was
the theory of Neo-Rational architecture and was created as the labour of human hands (manufatto);
compared by the prominent architect Peter Eisenman secondly it is subject to changes resulting from the
to the theoretical treatises of the Renaissance36. As a passing of time and, as a result, an autonomous work
supplement to this work, in 1981 Aldo Rossi wrote is created, an artifact40.
his famous poetic A ScientiÞc Autobiography37, The book contains four subject areas. In the
basing on his travel notes, kept since 1971, and on Þrst, Rossi describes and classiÞes the structure of
personal contacts with writers and poets. Only by the city, concerns himself with issues of typology
becoming acquainted with both these publications, is and the theory of permanence; in the second he
it possible to appreciate the poetic dimension of his analyzes the structure of the city understood as
ascetic architecture. Therefore, to know more it is a group of different elements; in the third, he
necessary to take a closer look at both L’Architettura considers the architecture of the city, which is made
della città and A ScientiÞc Autobiography38. up of singular places (locus solus) and “collective
memory”; in the last he discusses the dynamics of
The theory of architectural design according to city development and political decisions concerning
Aldo Rossi its development41.
Aldo Rossi understands architecture in categories
In the introduction to L’Architettura della città of science, and typology as one of its tools. In
Aldo Rossi settles accounts with the modernist L’Architettura della città he pays special attention to
movement in the architecture of the Þrst half of the the Enlightenment theory. Among others, he analyzes
twentieth century, criticizing it primarily for its lack the views of the architect and theoretician Antoin
of esteem for the natural development of historic Quatremère de Quincy, author of the deÞnition
cities, especially evident during the reconstruction of the word “type”, published in the Dictionnaire
following the destruction of wartime and during historique d’architecture (1832). Rossi deÞnes type
the modernization of historic districts of towns. as the basic, logical principle of building form. He
Though he expresses criticism, he nevertheless writes: “The word ‘type’ represents not so much the
respects the determination with which the theorists image of a thing to be copied or perfectly imitated
of Functionalism formed principles regulating the as the idea of an element that must itself serve as a
development of architecture and urban planning rule for the model. (…) The model, understood in
in the age of mature Modernism. Rossi begins his terms of the practical execution of art, is an object
deÞning of the basic concepts with a deÞnition of the according to witch one can conceive works that do
city, the main theme of his book: “The city, which is not resemble one another at all. Everything is precise
the subject of this book, is to be understood here as and given in the model; everything is more or less
architecure. By architecture I mean only not only the vague on the type. Thus we see that the imitation of

35
A. Rossi, L’architettura della città, Padova: Marsilio 1966. 39
A. Rossi, The Architecture…, op. cit., p. 21.
The next Italian edition of the book appeared in 1970 with a new 40
In the English translation the term “artifact”, is used. This is
introduction. Translations into Spanish, German and Portuguese a narrowing of the Italian “fatti” which denotes facts, actions,
were also published. In 1978 the forth Italian edition appeared, deeds, achievements. The Italian “fatto urbano” comes from the
with new illustrations. The Þrst English edition came out in French “faite urbanie”. The English translation “urban artifact”
1982 and contained drawings and texts produced over a period is not adequate for the many meanings of the original which
of Þfteen years. Thus, the English version is a witness to the refers not only to physical objects in the city but to their history,
developing of Rossi’s ideas. This article examines the English geography, structure and connections with the life of the city.
version of the book: A. Rossi, The Architecture of the City, Rossi uses the term in the much broader Italian sense. See. P.
translated by D. Girardo, J. Ockman, Oppositions Books, 1992. Eisenman, in: Aldo Rossi, op. cit., p. 5. The article uses the terms
36
A. Rossi, The Architecture…, op. cit., introduction. “artifacts” and “urban artefacts”.
37
A. Rossi, A ScientiÞc Autobiography, The MIT Press, 41
A. Rossi, The Architecture…, op. cit., p. 27.
Cambridge, Massachussets and London, England 1981.
38
The further part of the text contains many quotes. The Author
is of the opinion that Rossi explains his architectural theory and
practice best himself.

68
types involves nothing that Þllings or spirit cannot after the Þrst publication of the book, Aldo Rossi’s
recognize…”42. As an example he gives the “central text can be seen as an anticipatory argument against
type” of a church which is Þxed and constant, “empty formalism” of context, understood only as
though the form of the temple changes with time a relationship of Þgures on the plan of the city45.
because architectural style changes, as does the Aldo Rossi devotes considerable attention to the
construction, the function and the community concept of “space” and cites the theories of Andrea
taking part in religious life. Typology is the study Palladio, Francesco Milizia, Viollet - le - Duc, and
of elements of a city and of architecture that cannot Maurice Halbwachs. He explains that “The locus is
be further reduced. On the architectural scale types the relationship between a cartain speciÞc location and
manifest themselves in the mutual relations of the the buildings that are in it. It is at once singular and
spaces within the building; on the urban scale, the universal”46. “Locus” is what allows urban artifacts
city is made up of spatial elements, among which to attain the possibility of existence, it expresses
can be distinguished historically determined types of both the physical reality and the history. “Locus” is
layout: a block of houses surrounded by open space, determined by space and time, topography and form,
a block of houses facing the street, a deep block of events ancient and contemporary47. “Singular places”
houses that almost totally occupies the available (locus solus) are recognizable through architectural
space, houses with closed courts and small interior forms, signs whose task is to date events. Architecture
structures. The basis of classiÞcation of a type cannot creates the singularity of “place” and owing to its
be a functional analysis, because type would depend speciÞc form, it can survive many changes, especially
on the organization of a function which changes changes in functions. Historic buildings often change
over time, and because there exist features which their function, so Rossi recognizes that “function
lack a concrete function. From this Rossi concludes follows form”, in contrast to the functional theories
that the main criteria for analyzing a city should not of Modernism in which “form follows function”48.
be issues of function, as practised by avant-garde The issues Rossi discusses in his book aim to explain
modernists, as then issues of urban landscape and notions connected with the principle of “analogy”,
the form of the city are relegated to the background. such as “analogous city” and “analogous design”,
In the conclusion to his discussion of typology Rossi important components of the Neo-Rational theory of
states that it is useful not only for classiÞcation but design. Rossi argues that the principle of “analogy”
also for creative inspiration. can be a helpful tool both in creating the theory and in
Rossi also stresses the importance of time in the practice, that a book can come into being analogically
process of shaping the city. Invoking Marcel Poéte’s to a building or drawing49. He introduces the concept
point of view, sharpened by Bergson’s philosophy, of time and place of analogy, which do not refer to the
he constructs a concept of continuity, permanence. real time of the city. The time of an analogy measures
He writes: “These persistences are revealed through both history and memory, similarly the place of
monuments, the physical signs of the past, as well as an analogy refers to a historic place and memory
through the persistence of a city’s basic layout and associated with it.
plans”43. So, though the plan of the city is sometimes In Rossi’s theory the principle of analogy evokes
deformed, its foundations remain unchanged. He two kinds of transformations: dislocation of place
is of the opinion that “contextualism” treated only and dissolution of scale. The inspiration for the Þrst
as adapting to the historical urban plan can lead idea was the caprice of Giovanni Antonio Canaletto
to inhibiting the dynamic development of the city. “Capriccio con il ponte di Palladio” (1753 – 59)
He writes: “…so-called contextual preservation is (ill. 3). This fanciful painting depicts three designs
related to the city in time like the embalmed corpse by Andrea Palladio: the unrealized design of the
of a saint to the image of his historical personality” 44. Venetian Ponte di Rialto, and the Basilica Palladiana
Peter Eisenman, in the introduction to the English and Palazzo Chiericati in Vicenza, placed in an
edition of the book, asseses that, considering the unreal setting above a Venetian canal with gondolas.
contextual urbanism which dominates Þfteen years The three different places for which these designs
42
op. cit., p. 40. 46
op. cit., p. 103.
43
op. cit., p. 58. 47
op. cit., p. 107.
44
op. cit., p. 60. 48
Before Rossi, such a thesis was proposed by L. Kahn.
45
P. Eisenman, in: op. cit., p. 6. 49
op. cit., p. 8.

69
were prepared have been reduced to one – the scenery • the principle of “analogy” can be a helpful tool
of Venice. This way Canaletto created a view so both in the creation of a theory and in practice.
typical of Venice that the Venetians themselves were Years later, Rossi assessed his treatise on the
convinced that such a place exists somewhere in their architecture of the city in his autobiography “Around
city. The idea of an “analogous city” was born of the 1960 I wrote L’Architettura della città, a successful
hypothesis that certain primary artifacts exist, around book. At that time, I was not yet thirty years old and
which others are situated, functioning according to an (…) I wanted to write a deÞnitive work: it seemed to
analogous system50. So the “analogous city” (ill. 4) is me that everything, once clariÞed, could be deÞned
not a real, true city but is analogous to the real one. (…) I searched for the Þxed laws of a timeless
The inspiration for manipulating scale in the typology. (…) I read books on urban geography,
“analogous design process” was Leon Battista topography and history, like a general who wishes to
Alberti’s metaphor referring to the city and home: know every possible battleÞeld – the high grounds,
“the city is like a large house and the house in turn the passages, the woods. I walked the cities of
like a small city” and as an example Rossi gives Europe to understand their plans and classify them
Diocletian’s Palace at Split. “Split discovered in its according to types. (…) I often ignored the secret
own typological form an entire city, and thus the feelings I had for those cities; it was enough to
building came to refer analogically to the form of a know the system that governed them”52. Later on
city. This example is evidence that the single building he admits that with time he learnt to see architecture
can be designed by analogy to the city” 51. Applying in more depth: “Actually, I was discovering my own
the “analogy” principle in the whole of his work, architecture. A confusion of courtyards, suburban
Rossi transfers various elements from one design houses, roofs, gas storage drums comprised my Þrst
context to another, arbitrarily changing their scale. exploration of a Milan that seemed fantastic to me.
Greatly simplifying, the main principles of The bourgeois world of villas by lakes, the corridors
design practice resulting from the theory presented of the boarding schools, the huge kitchens in country
in L’Architettura della città can be summarized as houses – these were the memory of a landscape. (…)
follows: Yet their insistence on things revealed a craft to me.
• the architecture of the city is not only the visible (…) Thus typological and functional certainty were
image but an autonomous, collective work subject to extended”53.
changes resulting from the passage of time, In A ScientiÞc Autobiography Rossi writes very
• „type” is the basis, the logical principle of personally about architecture. He does not avoid the
building form, context of his own experiences. His memories of
• functional analysis cannot be the basis for his youth spent in Como explain the simple form of
classifying type, his designs and his penchant for sketching ordinary
• typology consists in studying the elements of a objects in the context of architecture “(…) drawing
city or architecture, which cannot be further reduced, the coffeepots, the pans, the bottles. I particularly
• though the plan of a city is sometimes deformed, loved the strange shapes of the coffeepots enameled
its essence is constant, blue, green, red; they were miniatures of the fantastic
• “place” is what allows urban artifacts to exist; architectures that I would encounter later. Today, I
it expresses both the physical reality and the still love to draw these large coffeepots, which I liken
history; “singular places” are recognizable through to brick walls (...)”54 (il. 5). Observation, memory
architectural form, and repetition are present in his work, about which
• the principle of “analogy” means that there he writes: “I particularly love empty theatres with
exist certain primary artifacts, around which others few lights lit and, most of all, those partial rehearsals
situate themselves according to an analogous where the voices repeat the same bar, interrupt it,
system, the consequence of which are two kinds of resume it. (...) Likewise in my projects, repetition,
transformation: change of place and change of scale, collage, the displacement of an element from one

50
op. cit., p. 165-166. 53
op. cit.
51
op. cit., p. 174. 54
op. cit., p. 2.
52
A. Rossi, A ScientiÞc…, op. cit., p. 16.

70
design to another, always places me before another form, reaching for regional and classic motifs, and
potential project which I would like to do but which from the 1980s stressed the monumental features
is also a memory of some other thing” 55. And later: in shaping architecture, especially evident in the
“Perhaps the observation of things has remained my unrealized projects of the nineties and later.
most important formal education; for observation
later becomes transformed into memory”56. Aldo Rossi’s Neo-Rational projects manifestoes”
Some dozen years later, after having written his
scientiÞc autobiography, in a conversation with the The architecture of the years from 1960-1980,
French architect and urban planner Bernard Huet, characterized by restraint and simplicity, Aldo Rossi
he again accented the importance of observation in called the “puristic” period of his early work when, in
an architect’s work: “I always tell my co-workers imitation of Enlightenment architects, he reduced the
and students that they should, above all, look at form of his architecture to simple abstract geometric
things, because it is through observation that one solids: cubes, cylinders, cones and spheres61. His
can learn the most. Someone visiting Paris can, favourite shape was the equilateral triangle because,
for example, go to a museum, or simply go for as he explained later in his autobiography he liked
a walk, and this view of the city can be enough to a certain kind of disorder within the boundaries of
enrich his individual style of architecture”57. The order and the triangle made possible such a joining of
mood of Rossi’s designs, especially in his early three different points with straight lines. He said that
work, reminds one of the metaphysical paintings the geometric character of much of his architecture,
of Giorgio de Chirico from the Pittura metaÞsica to a large extent, was the result of his obsession with
period, or the projects of Étienne-Louis Boullée, the the triangle during his studies at the Milan Technical
18th century classicist architect – visionary, about University, where he carried out real triangulation
whom Rossi wrote „Boullée explicitly asserts that measurements for his classes in topography. For him
he has discovered the architecture of shadows, and the triangle was the Holy Trinity, it was Professor
hence the architecture of light. With this insight he Gavinelli who taught geodesy and topography in
taught me how light and shadow are nothing but the Milan62.
other face of chronological time, the fusion of that His Þrst project after graduating was an attempt
atmospheric and chronological tempo which displays to apply this idea, which he later developed in his
and then consumes architecture (…). . Towards the theoretical works. Together with the architect Gianni
end Rossi says: “So I continue my architectural Braghieri, he carried out a conceptual study for the
activity with the same persistence, and it seems to modernization of the degraded historical complex
me that my vacillation between a rigid and historical along Farini street in Milan (1960). The concept on
geometry and the guasi – naturalism of objects may the urban scale was to conform to the historic fabric
be a precondition for this type of work”59. of the city, and on the architectural scale to retain the
Aldo Rossi’s designs were the result of his Neo- characteristic architectural style of the buildings of
Rationalist theories of architecture. When we analyze the district, without copying its historic form. This
his architectural work, we can see that, in spite of was the rule he advised for historic cities several
an evolution of form, his way of designing basically years later in L’Architettura della città, recognizing
remained unchanged. In his Þrst period Rossi used that the permanent code of the city is its topography,
simple “puristic” spatial solids, devoid of detail, like its plan and type of build.
the design “manifestoes” 60 which characterized his From among the dozen or so architectural projects
work in the 1960s. From 1980, he “softened” their made before 1970, only a few were built. All have

55
op. cit., p. 20. should not be associated with the purism of Le Corbusier and
56
op. cit., p. 23. Ozenfant from the period 1916 – 25, or with the purism meant
57
A. Rossi, B. Huet, A conversation, in A. Rossi, H. Geisert, as the aspiration to give all historic buildings a uniÞed stylized
Aldo Rossi, architect, Academy Editions, London and New character.
York, 1994, p. 18. 61
A. Rossi, La città analoga, “Lotus”, 1976, n.13, p. 4-7
58
A. Rossi, A ScientiÞc…, op. cit., p. 47. (English edition. A. Rossi, An Analogical Architecture, in P.
59
op. cit., p. 83. Keogh, 1983, op. cit., p. 58 – 64, translated by David Stewart).
60
Puristic architecture is understood here by the Author as 62
A. Rossi, P. Portoghesi, op. cit., s. 14.
geometric in form, clear in composition. The term purism

71
in common a simplicity and economy of form. form resting on columns, a roofed promenade on a
Probably the most characteristic examples are the simple colonnade which could be a type of portico.
designs for an unbuilt Monument to the Resistance, I intended to create urban architecture, to give the
in Cuneo (1962)63 and a second, partly completed building a public character”66. Rossi approached the
design in Segrate (1965), as well as the projects for task in accordance with the assumptions of Neo-
revitalizing the Piazza della Pilotta in Parma (1964), Rational architecture, Þrst deciding on the type of
the Paganini Theatre and the Edmund Amicis school build. In comparison to the other designs, Rossi’s
in Broni (1969/70). proposal was extremely simple.
The monument in Cuneo was to stand at the foot In his project for the modernization and extension
of the Boves mountains, where heroic battles were of the Edmund Amicis school in Broni near Padua,
fought during the war. It consists of a reinforced completed in 1970, Aldo Rossi deÞned his position
concrete cuboid with 12m walls and an interior concerning the relationship between the new build
viewing platform, from which a long slit cut in the and the historical. The extension of the school, built in
wall allows observation onto the Þeld of battle. Rossi 1900, on the plan of a horseshoe, was designed with
will use an identical form in 1988 when designing an inside courtyard surrounded by galleries on two
his urban monument at the entrance to the Via Croce ßoors, with slim columns (ill. 12). The background
Rossa metro station, on the city square in Milan (ill. for the columns was to be the original wall of the old
6). The Monument to the Resistance in Segrate is school, so that „that reference to the past could be seen
part of the development of the square in front of the by comparing the materials”67. About his project Rossi
town hall (ill. 7,8). Around the square, surrounded said: „This work, despite its small scale, is particularly
by a wall, columns stand, like ruins (ill. 9). The important because of the meaning my work assumes
focal point is the monument to resistance Þghters, through direct confrontation with the old building.
built of enormous blocks: a cylinder and a cuboid on Most of all I tried, from the very Þrst, to stress the
a triangular base with straight walls. As in Cuneo, contrast between two separate bodies, one taking form
the interior of the monument has stairs and a viewing inside the other. (…) The same method can serve as
platform. Light and shade fall sharply on the severe an approach to the conservation of ancient buildings
concrete blocks – the chiaroscuro effect is a symbol and the renovation of historical town centers. In such
of passing time. The simple solids used here were cases, each new addition, however independent in its
often made use of in other projects. Repetition of conception, exists physically within a predetermined
the same motifs in various conditions exempliÞes context. Not only is this context different in formal
the principle of analogy formulated in his design terms, but also it has its own dimension in time,
theory. which must be taken into account whenever the
In 1964, Aldo Rossi was one of seven architects64 context is to be modiÞed. (…) The recent tendency
invited to participate in a competition project – the towards environmental improvements, preservation,
rebuilding of the 18th century Paganini Theatre and maintaining old facades – a sort of false embalming
revitalization of the Piazza Della Pilotta in Parma65 process - leads to the eventual decomposition of both
(ill. 10, 11). Concerning this project Rossi wrote: architecture and townscape68.
„The theatre in Parma induced me to consider the Among the most important design “manifestoes”
monument. I had always thought of architecture of Neo-Rationalist architecture are undoubtedly
as monument, irrespective of the function it the Gallaratese 2 estate on Monte Amiata in Milan
was to serve. (…) A theatre can be the place for and the cemetery in Modena. The residential
performances but it must Þrst and foremost possess building completed in 1974, on the Milan estate,
its own speciÞc architectural style. (…) The Greek was the Þrst of Rossi’s designs noticed by the
theatre was an urban issue, as it was a meeting place architectural critics and public opinion. During the
for all the city’s inhabitants. (…) In Parma I made XVth Triennale in Milan (1973), it was shown as an
use of these principles. I designed a cylindrical example of the practical application of the theory of

63
Competition project together with L. Meda and G. U. 66
G. Braghieri, Also Rossi, Verlag für Architectur Artemis,
Polesello. Zürich, München, 1984, p. 36.
64
Beside Carlo Aymonino, Luigi Cacca-Dominioni, Roberto 67
op. cit., p. 69.
Gabetti, Vittorio GandolÞ, Luigi Pellegrin, Paolo Portoghesi. 68
A. Rossi, Thoughts about my Recent Work, in “Architecture
65
„L’Architettura”, 1966, no 129, p. 168 - 176. and Urbanism”, 1976, no. 5, p. 83.

72
Neo-Rationalist architecture69. Professor Geoffery contrast with the light walls, creating a monotonous
Broadbent, a researcher who was studying at the time architecture, in accordance with Rossi’s intention
the application of modern trends in architectural and that they should only be a background for the
urban design, deÞned the building on the Gallaratese various manifestations of the life of residents (ill.
estate a paradigm of the Neo-Rational design 14, 15). As he watched the house being settled, he
theory, similar to Marc-Antoine Laugier’s model wrote: „Only very recently, walking in front of it,
of a “primitive cottage” – considered a paradigm of I saw the Þrst open windows, some laundry hung
Rationalist architecture of the second half of the 18th out over the balustrades to dry…those Þrst shy hints
century70. Aldo Rossi worked on the design of the of the life it will take on when fully inhabited. I am
building from 1967 to 1969 as part of the team of convinced that the spaces intended for daily use - the
Carlo Aymonino, author of the whole urban layout front portico, the open corridors meant to function as
which consisted of four oblong blocks of ßats, situated streets, the perches - will cast into relief, as it were,
radially around an amphitheatre71 (il. 13). Rossi was the dense ßow of everyday life”75. When analyzing
the author of a four storey block of ßats72, situated the architecture of the house in Gallaratese, it is easy
parallel to the central building designed by Aymonino. to see that the same elements have been used but on
For Aldo Rossi’s design theory, the “moment of a different scale. There are also new forms, such as
typological choice” was the most important moment the division of square openings into quarters, or the
of the “formal choice”73, that is why for the building St Andrew’s cross, motifs which will be used often
in Gallaratese he chose the gallery type, which he in future projects.
explained as follows: „In my design for the residential The second of the great “manifestoes” – the
block in the Gallaratese district of Milan there is an cemetery of San Cataldo in Modena was designed in
analogical relationship with certain engineering 197176. Aldo Rossi won a two stage competition for
works that mix freely with both the corridor typology the extension of the 19th century cemetery of Andrea
and a related feeling I have experienced in the Costa. Designing the necropolis “L’azzurro del
architecture of the traditional Milanese tenements, cielo”, together with Gianni Braghieri, he called it
where the corridor signiÞes a life-style bathed in a “fundamental work” for the understanding of Neo-
everyday occurrences, domestic intimacy, and Rational architecture77. The winning design stood
varied personal relationships”74. In the context of out not only in the quality of the drawing but also
Aymonino’s tall blocks, Rossi’s building has a much in the masterly incorporation into the urban context,
more human scale, in spite of its very reduced while most of the other designs referred only to the
solid shape. The façade of the building is a straight historic details of the cemetary, ignoring its spatial
columnade and the dark square frames of windows layout78 (ill. 16).

69
A. Rossi, An Analogical Architecture, op. cit., p. 58-64. – passages, 1.85m wide, leading in turn to the entrances of the
70
G. Broadbent, Emerging Concepts in Urban Space Design, ßats. 1.5m square apertures are cut out in the wall of the gallery.
Van Nostrad Reinhold, New York, 1990, p. 186. The staircase is lightened by a huge square opening divided into
71
See “L’Architettura”, 1971, p. 182–187. Carlo Aymonino four smaller squares with 2.8m sides, covered by a metal grid.
designed three eight storey buildings of a brutal architecture, The openings and the balustrades of the loggias have divisions
comparable to the Marseille Unit or the Centre in Chandigarh by in the shape of the St Andrew’s cross. The windows are also
Le Corbusier. When designing the ßats Aymonino based on the square and divided into four parts. The basic ßat has two rooms,
“existenzminimum” type of ßat, he also proposed a consistent a kitchen and bathroom.
colour code for the whole complex. An analysis of types of ßats 73
C. Aymonino, V. Gregotti, V. Pastor, G. Polesello, A. Rossi,
is given in: C. Aymonino ed. L’abitazione razionale: atti dei L. Semerani, G. Valle, Progetto realizzato. Venezia: Marsilio
Congressi C.I.A.M. 1929-1930, Padova, Marsilio 1971. See: G. 1980, pp. 156-157.
Broadbent, op. cit., p. 172–175. 74
A. Rossi, An Analogical…, op. cit, p. 62.
72
The building is situated on a rising, is 182m long and 12m 75
A. Rossi, A. Rossi, Thoughts about…, op. cit.
wide. On the ground ßoor there is a double row of columns 76
In 1967 the Modena authorities decided to extend the historic
which level the height differences of the ground. The columnade cemetery by announcing a competition but the idea was only put
on one side comprises reinforced concrete posts 1m in diameter, into practice in 1971. The basic assumption was that the new
on the other – shields 3m long and 20cm wide, the spacing cemetery should refer to the historic cemetery of Andrea Costa
between axes is 1.45 m. Where the ground begins to dip, and the neighbouring Jewish cemetery. The cemetery was only
there are four massive columns 1.8m in diameter. The space partly built according to the original design.
between the shields on the ground ßoor is designated for trade. 77
A. Rossi, An Analogical…, op. cit., p. 61.
Five groups of staircases lead to the level of open galleries 78
B. Taschen ed., Architectural Competitions, Köln 1994, p.
102 – 109.

73
 Also in the case of the cemetery, Rossi preceded (…) I now realize, however, that to regard death
his plans for the extension with typological studies, as a kind of fracture is a one-sided interpretation81.
in accordance with the theory of Neo-Rationalism. The gabled roofs of the columbaria are a “sky-
Referring to Italian tradition, he designed the blue”colour , like the design’s title “L’azzurro del
cemetery as a “city of the dead” 79. When describing cielo”, or like the sky seen by Rossi in the Slovenian
the design, he gives the Roman tomb of Eurysaces hospital. The Mausoleum for victims of the war is
near the Porta Maggiore (1st c. BC) as a model. a red cube without ceiling or roof, with regular
The Costa cemetery, built on an oblong plan, is square empty voids as windows – this is the “House
surrounded by a roofed columnade. Rossi also of the Dead” resembling the tomb of Eurysaces. In
designs the new cemetery on a rectangular plan and Rossi’s imagination it is like “deserted houses on the
links it with the historical axis of the composition. river bank, abandoned for years in the wake of the
The interior, like a town square, is surrounded by great ßoods. In these houses one can still Þnd broken
a two storey gallery, with a double row of columns cups, iron beds, shattered glass(…)”82.
on the ground ßoor, typologically connecting with The design for the cemetery in Modena is probably
the columnade of Costa’s cemetery. The neoclassical the most discussed of Rossi’s works. It brought him
columns have been replaced by reinforced concrete fame, popularity, but also many critical comments
shields between which, as in the street, ßowers can about which he wrote: “I remember how this project
be bought. The upper ßoor of the gallery contains provoked ferocious attacks on me which I did not
columbaria. Within the cemetery Rossi also planned comprehend; attacks were even directed at my entire
a cone-shaped morgue, columbaria, tombs and a architectural activity. Yet what had a greater impact
mausoleum of war casualties, only partially completed on me was the critics reduction of the project to a
(ill. 17-21). The rows of tombs arranged on the plan sort of neo-Enlightenment experiment. I believe
of a triangle, are sometimes compared to the skeleton that this reaction occurred above all because it was
of a Þsh – the symbol of Christianity or of man. seen as a translation of the work of Etienne-Louis
When looking for inspiration for this project, Boullée, not because of any critical intention”83.
Aldo Rossi mentions in the ScientiÞc Autobiography This design, as usual, has much repetition, elements
his stay in hospital after a serious car accident80: which Rossi used there and would use again in later
“Perhaps as a result of this incident, the project work. The columnade of straight shields is identical
for the cemetery at Modena was born in the little with the one in the arcades in Gallaratese, the cube
hospital of Slavonski Brod and, simultaneously, of the “House of the Dead” is empty inside like
my youth reached its end. I lay in a small (…) near the monument at Cuneo, etc. Rossi wrote: „In like
a window through which I looked at the sky and a fashion I could put together an album relating to
little garden. Lying nearly immobile, I thought of the my designs and consisting only of things already
past, but sometimes I did not think: I merely gazed seen in other places: galleries, silos, old houses,
at the trees and the sky. The presence of things and factories, farmhouses in the Lombard countryside
my separation from things – bound up also with the or near Berlin, and many more – something between
painful awareness of my own bones – brought me memory and an inventory”84.
back to my childhood. During the following summer, Aldo Rossi designed many structures of various
in my study for the project (of the cemetery), perhaps sizes and functions, constructing architecture from
only this image and the pain in my bones remained simple blocks, as on the Gallaratese estate and in
with me: I saw the skeletal structure of the body as the Modena cemetery. Some characteristic examples
a series of fractures to be reassembled. (…) I had are: the buildings of the primary school in Fagano
identiÞed death with the morphology of the skeleton Olona (1972-76) and the secondary school in Broni

79
H. G. Hannesen, H. Gerhard, Cara Architecttura!, in Aldo died in a Milan hospital, as a result of injuries sustained in a car
Ross:i architect, op.cit., p. 43. Early Etruscan or Roman tombs accident.
in appearance resembled houses. 82
op. cit., p. 15.
80
On the way to Istanbul, between Belgrade and Zagreb. 83
op. cit., p. 15.
81
A. Rossi, A ScientiÞc…, op. cit., p. 11.Today this text has an 84
A. Rossi, An Analogical…, op. cit., p. 62.
added, symbolic meaning, On September 4, 1997, Aldo Rossi

74
(1979), the ßoating Teatro del Mondo (1979) (ill. essay written when Rossi received the Pritzker
22,23), or the travelling stall at Yatai in Naygoya, Award in 1990, we Þnd the following words: “One
Japan (1989). can wear a Rossi wristwatch, sit in a Rossi chair
In the 1980s, when Rossi, still faithful to his sipping espresso from a Rossi coffee pot, don clothes
theoretical principles of Neo-Rational architecture from a Rossi armoire, promenade through a Rossi
“softens” the once puristic forms, he shows a mega-shopping center near Parma, see an opera in
competition design of a hotel (1980) in the Venetian his Genoese theatre, and even reserve a plot in the
district of Cannari, in form analogous to the building giant Rossi cemetery at Modena”86. Rossi was also
in Gallaratese, with a classic detail in the form of a the author of tens of architectural, painting and
crowning cornice. graphic sketches, executed in various techniques
Aldo Rossi gained international fame when he which, published in journals on architecture, the city
won an international competition in 1981, organized and art were most inspiring for the young generation
on the occasion of the IBA in Berlin (1980-1987), of architects. Today, when the work of the prewar
for the project of the Südliche Friedrichstadt housing moderns is more and more appreciated, the most
complex (il. 24). Rossi incorporated his building into important achievements of Postmodernism, such
the historic fabric of the city and related its architecture as respect for the natural development of the city,
to the German tradition, at the same time giving it his utilizing the historical heritage and regional traditions
own characteristic detail. The ability to join regional and freedom of choice are still valuable. Though it is
elements with his individual style will be utilized in Þfty years since Aldo Rossi began his creative work,
future projects. In later years, in much of his work also his design theory, losing nothing of its currency,
there will be more stress placed on monumental with the passing of time gained in signiÞcance,
architectural forms85, as in the town hall complex while his easily recognizable architectural features,
in Perugia in 1982 and, especially, the design of the especially from the early period of his work, continue
Palazzo dello Sport in Milan from 1988 (ill. 1, 25). to arouse emotions and interest.

Finally Translated by A. Petrus-Zagroba

During his career Aldo Rossi published several Justyna Wojtas Swoszowska, dr in". arch., adiunkt
tens of texts on the subject of architectural theory, Katedra Historii i Teorii Architektury
Wydzia! Architektury Politechniki &l skiej
made about two hundred different designs. In the

85
The term “monumental” when referring to architecture, Roman antiquity: the layout along an axis, simplicity of form,
means a building of great size, huge, massive, powerful, of straight lines of cornices, monumental columns, arcades.
permanent value. Among the permanent values are undoubtedly 86
”The Pritzker Architecture Prize” 1990, www.pritzkerprize.
the classical elements based on models taken from Greek and com/1990/

75