Aldo Rossi Architect

The architecture of Aldo Rossi is inextricably linked with Italy, where he lived and worked until his untimely death in 1997. His buildings were born from the memory of places and his theories of urban artifacts (found in The Architecture of the City), so it's no wonder that he is linked to Milan, the Veneto and other parts of Northern Italy. Yet he successfully ventured beyond Italy, realizing buildings in Japan, the United States, France, the Netherlands, a number of them in Germany. The last drives this book, which came about from a 1993 exhibition at the Berlinische Galerie. As Helmut Geisert puts it in "Rossi's Berlin," one of the essays that prefaces the selection of Rossi projects: "He holds a mirror up to [Berlin] so that it can show more become more aware of itself, due to his recognition of its formal language." So Rossi's buildings are seen as more than just part of a Postmodern trend; they are a means of mending cities torn by modernity, be it war or bad planning. Though I've yet to see them in person, Rossi's infill housing in Germany appear to suitable means of addressing that city's condition at the end of the 20th century. Unfortunately the project pages are short on elucidating this sort of thing, since they only allow for a couple images and a few sentences per project. Thankfully the essays and Rossi interview at the beginning of the book go into the ideas behind the architect's buildings in a lot more depth. show less