The Architecture of the City (Oppositions Books)

Aldo Rossi was a practicing architect and leader of the Italian architectural movement La Tendenza and one of the most influential theorists of the twentieth century. 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, the book has become immensely popular among architects and design students. Introduction: Urban Artifacts And A Theory Of The City -- 1. The Structure Of Urban Artifacts -- The Individuality Of Urban Artifacts -- The Urban Artifact As A Work Of Art -- Typological Questions -- Critique Of Naive Functionalism -- Problems Of Classification -- The Complexity Of Urban Artifacts -- Monuments And The Theory Of Permanences -- 2. Primary Elements And The Concept Of Area -- The Study Area -- Residential Districts As Study Areas -- The Individual Dwelling -- The Typological Problem Of Housing In Berlin -- Garden City And Ville Radieuse -- Primary Elements -- The Dynamic Of Urban Elements -- The Ancient City -- Processes Of Transformation -- Geography And History: The Human Creation -- 3. The Individuality Of Urban Artifacts -- Architecture -- The Locus Architecture As Science -- Urban Ecology And Psychology -- How Urban Elements Become Defined -- The Roman Forum -- Monuments -- Summary Of The Critique Of The Concept Of Context -- The City As History -- The Collective Memory -- Athens -- 4. The Evolution Of Urban Artifacts -- The City As Field Of Application For Various Forces -- Economics -- The Thesis Of Maurice Halbwachs -- Further Considerations On The Nature Of Expropriations -- Land Ownership -- The Housing Problem -- The Urban Scale -- Politics As Choice. Aldo Rossi ; Introduction By Peter Eisenman ; Translation By Diane Ghirardo And Joan Ockman ; Revised For The American Edition By Aldo Rossi And Peter Eisenman. Published For The Graham Foundation For Advanced Studies In The Fine Arts, Chicago, Illinois, And The Institute For Architecture And Urban Studies, New York, New York. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Translated From The Italian.