• The Death and Life of ‘Operative’ History: Dialogues between the Historiography and Theory of Architecture and Urbanism in Contemporary Italy

    Author(s):
    Pedro P. Palazzo (see profile)
    Date:
    2021
    Group(s):
    Architectural History and Theory
    Subject(s):
    Historiography, Critical theory, Architectural criticism, Architecture, History, Twentieth century--Study and teaching, Postmodernism, Idealism
    Item Type:
    Conference paper
    Conf. Title:
    EAHN 6th International Meeting
    Conf. Org.:
    The University of Edinburgh
    Conf. Loc.:
    Edinburgh
    Conf. Date:
    2021
    Tag(s):
    Italian architecture, typology, Critical historiography, Architectural history, History and theory of historiography, 20th-century studies, Marxist historiography
    Permanent URL:
    http://dx.doi.org/10.17613/pecd-vz06
    Abstract:
    In spite of the dispute between Saverio Muratori and Manfredo Tafuri, and of the ever-widening split that has characterised the global scholarship of architecture ever since, Italy gave rise to several methods of typo- morphological studies founded upon both rigorous historiography and a coherent theory underpinning the operative use of this historical knowledge in architectural design. This paper argues that the Italian ‘school’—for want of a better word—is perhaps unique insofar as it defines a clear scope of objects and methods pertaining to the disciplinary field of architecture as a whole, thus providing a unified framework for both historiography and design. Yet, this Italian ‘school’ of typo-morphological history and theory is diverse, exposing rifts between traditionalists and modernists. The former are tributary of Aldo Rossi’s postmodernist formal relationships derived from a concept of ‘collective memory,’ whereas the latter adopt Saverio Muratori’s ‘procedural typology’ as a tool for generating abstract spatial relationships. This paper will focus on recent historical studies in nineteenth century architecture as well as new projects in the cities of the river Po plains—Alessandria, Parma, Bologna—that clarify these theoretical conflicts, yet show the way forward for an ‘operative’ dialogue between historiography and typological design theory. These recent contributions have displaced, ever so slightly but significantly, the long-standing Italian emphasis on Medieval and Renaissance historiography and on the iconic post-war building campaigns in Rome, Milan, and Venice.
    Metadata:
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    Published as:
    Conference proceeding     Show details
    Publisher:
    The University of Edinburgh
    Pub. Date:
    2021
    Proceeding:
    Conference Proceedings
    Page Range:
    33 - 40
    Status:
    Published
    Last Updated:
    2 years ago
    License:
    Attribution-ShareAlike
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