ALDO ROSSI
ARCHITECTURE OF THE CITY
Aldo Rossi, a practicing architect and leader of the Italian architectural movement La
Tendenza, is also one of the most influential theorists writing today. The Architecture of
the City is his major work of architectural and urban theory. In part a protest against
functionalism and the Modern Movement, in part an attempt to restore the craft of
architecture to its position as the only valid object of architectural study, and in part an
analysis of the rules and forms of the city's construction
▪ A chance to rethink architecture with respect to the city as a
meaning of collective life, history, and reality instead of from a
functional aspect.
ARCHITECTURE OF THE CITY
Chapter One: The structure of urban artifacts
Chapter Two: Primary Elements and the Concept of
Area
Chapter Three: The Individuality of Urban Artifacts; Architecture
Chapter Four: The Evolution of Urban Artifacts
o Rossi considers the city as - A large, complex man-made object
o Urban artefacts -Rossi is keen to establish and identify the nature of urban
artefacts
o Suggests that urban artefact could be a building,street, district, urban
complex or palace
THE LOCUS
The Locus is the relationship between a
specific location the buildings that are in it.
It is at once singular universal
Genus loci, local divinity. the vital secret
of a relationship between old new.
The Locus participates as a unique physical
place.
The Locus itself is a single artefact determined
by Its space time Topographical dimensions
its form
By its being on the seat of a
succession of ancient and recent events and by
its memory
For example,
He refers to the transcendent space of the Catholic religion, and even in this
ultimately homogeneous space there are singular points due to a particular
event or infinite variety of other reasons that occurred there.
Saying that it is useful to analyse the architecture and the urban artifact in order
to define the urban elements, the author describes the difference between the
architecture and urban artifact in this way.
THE FORM
It is the form that allows him to approach the city’s problems. He describes
the architecture of the city with two different meanings; first, the city is
seen as a gigantic man-made object, growing over time; second, as urban
artifacts characterized by their own history and form. These two aspects
relate to the quality and uniqueness of the urban artifact.
For example,
Palazzo della Ragione, Padua,
He states that …”It also happens
that when we visit a palazzo like
the one in Padua or travel
through a particular city, we are
subjected to different
experiences, different
impressions.”
Rossi defines urban artifacts as primary elements because their existence has
contributed to the morphological and cultural evolution of the city. Any element
capable of accelerating the process of urbanization in the city is a primary element,
including an empty space.
Aldo Rossi instead criticized the lack of understanding of the city in current
architectural practice.
Aldo Rossi argued that a city must be studied and valued
as something constructed over time, particularly urban artifacts that withstand the
passage of time. This directly
contradicted Modernisms polemics against monuments.
● URBAN ARTIFACT AS WORK OF ART:
The city is a human-made object, a work of both engineering and architecture, The
city is also characterized, like certain elements of the city, i.e. urban artifacts, by is
own history and thus its own form. Functions are dominated by form
and forms determine the individuality of every urban artifact. Rossi argues that
the whole is of greater importance than the single parts, therefore, he wants to
examine the total architecture of the city in therms of its parts.
● URBAN ARTIFACT AS WORK OF ART:
The city is a human-made object, a work of both engineering and architecture, The
city is also characterized, like certain elements of the city, i.e. urban artifacts, by is
own history and thus its own form.
Functions are dominated by form and forms determine the individuality of every
urban artifact. Rossi argues that the whole is of greater importance than the single
parts, therefore, he wants to examine the total architecture of the city in therms of
its parts.
● THEORY OF PERMANENCE:
Urban history is the most useful way to study the city. The persistence of the
city is revealed through monuments and the city’s basic layout and plan. Cities try to
maintain their axis of development by retaining their original layouts
and expanding according to the meaning of their urban artifacts. Permanence may
be “propelling” or “pathological.” A monument becomes propelling when it survives
thanks to a form that accommodates different functions over time. When an artifact
is isolated in the city, it is pathological.
● CITY AS A SPATIAL SYSTEM:
The city is conceived as a spatial system composed of many parts. This part and
whole character of a city challenges a fundemental component of functionalism,
zoning.
● HISTORY AND THE COLLECTIVE MEMORY:
History is the collective memory of city people and it has a direct influence on
the city itself. This history is expressed through monuments. Urban history is
most useful in studying the urban structure, for more typical historical methods
isolate the past from the present.
● THE MONUMENTS:
According to Rossi, monuments serve to transmit ideas within the urban
context.
The persistence of a city is revealed through monuments, which serve as
physical signs of the past. Yet it must be clear that Rossi advocates that the
dynamic
process of the city tends to be more of an evolution rather than a
preservation.
ALDO ROSSI PHILOSOPHY
● Neo-Rationalism
● Historical Reference
● Repetition and Fixation
● Influence from prominent Italian painters,De Chirico and Sironi
● Utmost importance to the history of the place through its monuments.