HARTAIXX2016-V010000

Summary

The video script discusses Aldo Rossi's exploration of architectural types and their relationship with the city. Rossi believed that the 'architectural type' is the essence and end of architecture, yet remains inexhaustible. He applied this concept in his designs, notably the Cemetery of San Cataldo, which contrasts traditional burial hierarchies and presents a 'city of the dead' with its own permanence and continuity. His work emphasizes the continuity of urban forms and the role of architecture in shaping and reflecting history.

Takeaways

• 🏛️ Rossi's career was focused on the relationship between individual architectural elements, the discipline of architecture, its origins, and its culmination.
• 🔍 He explored the interplay between architectural practice and theory, concluding that the 'architectural type' is both the beginning and end of architecture, yet remains inaccessible and inexhaustible.
• 🏛️ Rossi viewed the architectural type as a historical manifestation, with recurring patterns and forms that persist through time despite changes in use and function.
• 📚 In 'Architecture of the City,' Rossi emphasized the continuity of urban types, using 'permanences' to describe the enduring presence of these types.
• 🏟️ The Roman coliseum at Lucca exemplifies 'propelling permanence,' maintaining its form through various functional transformations from a quarry to a market and housing.
• 🏗️ Rossi's most famous project, the Cemetery of San Cataldo in Modena, demonstrates his concept of architectural type in relation to the city, with its distinct types and central axis.
• 🔄 Rossi's cemetery design contrasts with the traditional 19th-century cemetery layout, reversing the hierarchy by placing the remains of the indigent in the most prominent location.
• 🏰 The design elements of Rossi's cemetery, such as the cube for ceremonies, ossuaries, and the truncated cone for a chapel and remains, reflect a modern reinterpretation of traditional funerary architecture.
• 🏙️ Rossi's walls, with their stark openings and triangular roofs, draw references from both ancient Etruscan urns and modern architecture, including his own previous work.
• 🌆 The concept of the cemetery as an 'analogous city' is central to Rossi's work, with graves as houses for the dead and monuments as permanent city fixtures.
• 🗺️ Rossi's aerial perspective drawings emphasize the elevational and plan views, highlighting the stepped pyramid-like form that suggests a return to the primitive origins of architecture.

Q & A

What was the central theme of Aldo Rossi's career?

Aldo Rossi's career was centered around exploring the relationships between individual elements of architecture, the discipline of architecture itself, its beginnings, and its ends, as well as the relationship between architectural practice and everyday architecture as a theoretical intellectual project.

What does Rossi mean by 'architectural type'?

Rossi referred to 'architectural type' as the beginning and end of architecture, an unavailable but real object that generates and serves as a reference for all of architecture, yet cannot be exhausted by either architectural practice or theory.

How did Rossi view the relationship between architecture and the city?

Rossi believed that architectural elements constitute the city, and the city acts as a determinant matrix or fabric that brings these elements into being.

What is the significance of 'permanences' in Rossi's work?

In Rossi's work, 'permanences' convey the persistence of types over time, despite various changes in use, as exemplified by the Roman coliseum at Lucca, which retained its form through multiple functional changes.

Can you describe the Cemetery of San Cataldo by Rossi?

The Cemetery of San Cataldo in Modena is Rossi's most famous project, designed in 1971. It features three distinct architectural types along a central axis: a large open cube, vertical rectangular slabs for ossuaries, and a large truncated cone housing a chapel and a place for the ashes of the indigent.

How does Rossi's design of the Cemetery of San Cataldo contrast with traditional 19th-century cemeteries?

Rossi's design reverses the traditional hierarchy found in 19th-century cemeteries, where the remains of the upper class were typically buried in the central chapel. In Rossi's cemetery, the truncated cone, which is the highest feature, houses the remains of the indigent.

What architectural elements does Rossi use to create a sense of starkness in his cemetery design?

Rossi uses stark walls with openings without muntins or mullions, and steeply pitched triangular roofs, reminiscent of Etruscan funerary urns and modern architecture, to create a sense of starkness in his cemetery design.

How does Rossi conceptualize the cemetery as an 'analogous city'?

Rossi views the cemetery as an 'analogous city' where graves are analogues of houses for the dead, and monuments are analogues of permanent city monuments. This concept highlights the idea of the cemetery as a city for the dead.

What is the significance of the stepped pyramid reference in Rossi's design?

The stepped pyramid reference in Rossi's design suggests a connection to architecture in its most primitive state, possibly alluding to Hegel's view of the pyramid as the beginning of architecture.

How does Rossi use shadows in his architectural drawings?

Rossi casts shadows toward the viewer in his drawings, creating a sense of depth and emphasizing the architectural forms. This technique also references Étienne Boullée's funerary architecture, where shadows form the primary decoration.

What is the role of the cube in Rossi's Cemetery of San Cataldo?

The cube in Rossi's Cemetery of San Cataldo is intended for funeral ceremonies and civil ceremonies, serving as a central gathering space within the cemetery.