Aldo Rossi

Aldo Rossi (3 May 1931 – 4 September

1997) was an Italian architect and
designer who achieved international
recognition in four distinct areas: theory,
drawing, architecture and product
design.[1]
 Aldo Rossi

(ca. 1986-87)

Born 3 May 1931

Milan, Italy

Died 4 September 1997

(aged 66)
Milan, Italy

Nationality Italian

Alma mater Polytechnic University

of Milan

Occupation Architect

Awards Pritzker Prize (1990)

Buildings Monte Amiata complex,
Teatro Carlo Felice,
Teatro La Fenice,
Bonnefanten Museum

He was the first Italian to receive the

Pritzker Prize[2] for architecture.

Early life
He was born in Milan, Italy. After early
education by the Somascan Religious
Order and then at Alessandro Volta
College in Lecco, in 1949 he went to the
school of architecture at the Polytechnic
University of Milan. His thesis advisor was
Piero Portaluppi and he graduated in 1959.

In 1955 he had started writing for, and

from 1959 was one of the editors of, the
architectural magazine Casabella-
Continuità, with editor in chief Ernesto
Nathan Rogers. Rossi left in 1964, when
the chief editorship went to Gian Antonio
Bernasconi. Rossi went on to work for
Società magazine and Il_contemporaneo,
making him one of the most active
participants in the fervent cultural debate
of the time.
His early articles cover architects such as
Alessandro Antonelli, Mario Ridolfi,
Auguste Perret and Emil Kaufmann and
much of this material became part of his
second book, Scritti scelti sull'architettura e
la città 1956-1972 (Selected writings on
architecture and the city from 1956 to
1972). He married the Swiss actress Sonia
Gessner, who introduced him to the world
of film and theater. Culture and his family
became central to his life. His son Fausto
was active in movie-making both in front
of and behind the camera and his daughter
Vera was involved with theatre.

Career
He began his professional career at the
studio of Ignazio Gardella in 1956, moving
on to the studio of Marco Zanuso. In 1963
also he began teaching, firstly as an
assistant to Ludovico Quaroni (1963) at
the school of urban planning in Arezzo,
then to Carlo Aymonino at the Institute of
Architecture in Venice. In 1965 he was
appointed lecturer at the Polytechnic
University of Milan and the following year
he published The architecture of the city
which soon became a classic of
architectural literature.

His professional career, initially dedicated

to architectural theory and small building
work took a huge leap forward when
Aymonino allowed Rossi to design part of
the Monte Amiata complex in the
Gallaratese quarter of Milan. In 1971 he
won the design competition for the
extension of the San Cataldo Cemetery in
Modena, which made him internationally
famous.

After suspension from teaching in Italy in

those politically troubled times, he moved
to ETH Zurich, occupying the chair in
architectural design from 1971 to 1975.

In 1973 he was director of the

International Architecture Section at the
XV Milan Triennial Exhibition of Decorative
Arts and Modern Architecture, where he
presented, among others, his student
Arduino Cantafora. Rossi's design ideas
for the exhibition are explained in the
International Architecture Catalogue and in
a 16mm documentary Ornament and crime
directed by Luigi Durissi and produced
along with Gianni Braghieri and Franco
Raggi. In 1975, Rossi returned to the
teaching profession in Italy, teaching
architectural composition in Venice.

In 1979 he was made a member of the

prestigious Academy of Saint Luke.
Meanwhile, there was international interest
in his skills. He taught at several
universities in the United States, including
Cooper Union in New York City and Cornell
University in Ithaca (New York State). At
Cornell he participated in the Institute for
Architecture and Urban Studies joint
venture with New York's Museum of
Modern Art, travelling to China and Hong
Kong and attending conferences in South
America.

In 1981 he published his autobiography, A

scientific autobiography. In this work the
author, "in discrete disorder", brings back
memories, objects, places, forms,
literature notes, quotes, and insights and
tries to "... go over things or impressions,
describe, or look for ways to describe." In
the same year he won first prize at the
international competition for the design of
an apartment block on the corner of
Kochstraße and Wilhelmstraße in central
Berlin.

In 1984 together with Ignazio Gardella and

Fabio Reinhart, he won the competition for
the renovation of the Teatro Carlo Felice in
Genoa, which was not fully completed until
1991. In 1985 and 1986 Rossi was director
of the 3rd (respectively 4th) International
Architecture Exhibition at the Venice
Biennale including further away display
spaces such as Villa Farsetti in Santa
Maria di Sala.

In 1987 he won two international

competitions: one for a site at the Parc de
la Villette in Paris, the other for the
Deutsches Historisches Museum in Berlin,
which was never brought to fruition. In
1989 he continued product design work
for Unifor (now part of Molteni Furniture)
and Alessi. His espresso maker La Cupola,
designed for Alessi came out in 1988.

In 1990 he was awarded the Pritzker

Prize.[3] The city of Fukuoka in Japan
honoured him for his work on the hotel
complex The Palace and he won the 1991
Thomas Jefferson Medal in Public
Architecture from the American Institute
of Architects. These prestigious awards
were followed by exhibitions at the Centre
Georges Pompidou in Paris, the Beurs van
Berlage in Amsterdam, the Berlinische
Galerie in Berlin and the Museum of
Contemporary Art in Ghent, Belgium.

In 1996 he became an honorary member

of the American Academy of Arts and
Letters and the following year he received
their special cultural award in architecture
and design. He died in Milan on 4
September 1997, following a car accident.
Posthumously he received the Torre
Guinigi prize for his contribution to urban
studies and the Seaside Prize of the
Seaside Institute , Florida, where he had
built a detached family home in 1995.

On appeal his proposals won the 1999

competition for the restoration of the
Teatro La Fenice, Venice and it reopened in
2004. In 1999 the Faculty of Architecture
of the University of Bologna, based in
Cesena, was named after him.

Work
Aldo Rossi La Cupola Espresso Maker 1988, produced
by Alessi

His earliest works of the 1960s were

mostly theoretical and displayed a
simultaneous influence of 1920s Italian
modernism (see Giuseppe Terragni),
classicist influences of Viennese architect
Adolf Loos, and the reflections of the
painter Giorgio de Chirico. A trip to the
Soviet Union to study Stalinist architecture
also left a marked impression.

In his writings Rossi criticized the lack of

understanding of the city in current
architectural practice. He argued that a
city must be studied and valued as
something constructed over time; of
particular interest are urban artifacts that
withstand the passage of time. Rossi held
that the city remembers its past (our
"collective memory"), and that we use that
memory through monuments; that is,
monuments give structure to the city.
Inspired by the persistence of Europe's
ancient cities, Rossi strove to create
similar structures immune to
obsolescence.[4]

He became extremely influential in the late

1970s and 1980s as his body of built work
expanded and for his theories promoted in
his books The Architecture of the City
(L'architettura della città, 1966) and A
Scientific Autobiography (Autobiografia
scientifica, 1981).The largest of Rossi's
projects in terms of scale was the San
Cataldo Cemetery, in Modena, Italy, which
began in 1971 but is yet to be completed.
Rossi referred to it as a "city of the dead".
The distinctive independence of his
buildings is reflected in the micro-
architectures of the products designed by
Rossi.[5] In the 1980s Rossi designed
stainless steel cafetières and other
products for Alessi, Pirelli, and others.

Central staircase Bonnefanten Museum, Maastricht

Exhibits
For the Venice Biennale in 1979 Rossi
designed a floating Teatro del Mondo[6]
that seated 250 people. For the Venice
Biennale in 1984, he designed a triumphal
arch at the entrance to the exhibition site.
In 2006 two pylons based on an original
1989 design by Aldo Rossi were erected in
front of the Bonnefanten Museum in
Maastricht by the Delft architectural firm
Ufo Architecten.

Awards
Aldo Rossi won the prestigious Pritzker
Prize for architecture in 1990. Ada Louise
Huxtable, architectural critic and Pritzker
juror, has described Rossi as "a poet who
happens to be an architect."

Architecture
1960 Villa ai Ronchi in Versilia
1962 Competition for the Monument to
the Resistance in Cuneo
1964 Competition for the new Paganini
theater and Piazza della Pilotta in Parma
1964 Bridge for the Triennale in Milan
1965 Monumental fountain at Segrate
1966 Competition for the district of San
Rocco in Monza
1967-74 Monte Amiata complex,
Gallaratese Quarter, Milan, with Carlo
Aymonino
1968 Design for town hall in Scandicci
1971-84 Ossuary and the Cemetery of
San Cataldo in Modena
1972 Design for City Hall Muggiò
1972 Primary school in Fagnano Olona
1973 Documentary movie "Ornament
and crime" for the Triennale in Milan
1974 Design for the regional council
headquarters and for a student
residence in Trieste
1976 Design for a student residence in
Chieti
1977 Design for a business center in
Florence
1977 Single-family homes in Mozzo
1978 Teatrino scientifico
1979 The floating 250 seat Teatro del
Mondo and triumphal arch, both built for
the Venice Biennale
1979 Apartments in Südliche
Friedrichstadt for the exhibition IBA 84
in West Berlin, Germany
1979 Torri shopping centre in Parma
1979 Middle school in Broni, with
Arduino Cantafora
1979 Monumental tower, Melbourne,
Australia
1981-1988 Berlin Block on Kochstraße at
its junction with Wilhelmstraße in Berlin,
Germany
1982 Head Office of Fontivegge in
Perugia
1982 House Pocono Pines, Mount
Pocono in Pennsylvania, USA
1982 Isle of Elba cabins for Bruno
Longoni
1983 Design for the town hall of
Borgoricco
1984-1987 Casa Aurora, home of GFT
Financial Textile Group, Turin
1984 Preparation for the Pitti-Uomo
men's fashion event in Florence
1984-1991 Renovation of Teatro Carlo
Felice, Genoa
1985 Preparation of a trade exhibition
stand for GFT Financial Textile Group,
Turin
1985 Residential building in the Vialba
quarter of Milan
1986-1989 Palace Hotel in Fukuoka,
Japan
1986 South Villette in Paris, France
1987 Lighthouse Theatre, Toronto
1988-91 Hotel Duca di Milano, Milan
1988-90 Monument to Sandro Pertini,
Milan
1989 de Lamel appartements, the
Hague, Netherlands
1989 Urban plan for the greater urban
area Pisorno, Tirrenia (Pisa)
1990-1992 Residential building and
former industrial area, Città di Castello
1990-1993 Club House of the
Cosmopolitan Golf Club in Tirrenia (Pisa)
1990 Social health complex in via
Canova in Florence
1991 Administrative building for The
Walt Disney Company in Orlando, Florida
1991 Contemporary arts centre on the
island of Vassivière in Beaumont-du-Lac,
France
1991 Redevelopment of former
industrial cotton mill Cantoni in
Castellanza as the main campus of the
University Carlo Cattaneo
1991 Post office and apartments near
the City of Music in Paris (19th
arrondissement), France
1992 Reconstruction of the Teatro Carlo
Felice in Genoa with Ignazio Gardella
1993 Personal Florentine wardrobe for
Bruno Longoni
1994-1998 Schützenstraße quarter,
Berlin (photographs )
1995 Bonnefantenmuseum in
Maastricht, Netherlands
1995 Regeneration of the former
Kursaal area in Montecatini
1996 Complex for a magazine in Berlin,
Germany
1996 Ca' di Cozzi[7] central district in
Verona
1996-1998 Mojiko Hotel, Kitakyushu,
Japan
1997 Design for the Arts Factory district
in Bologna
1997 Terranova shopping centre, Olbia,
Sardinia
1999-2004 Refurbishment of Teatro La
Fenice, Venice
 2001 Scholastic Corporation
Headquarters, New York City, USA

Product design
In addition to architecture, Rossi, created
product designs, including:

1983 Teatro chair for Molteni Group with

the collaboration of Luca Meda;
1984 The Conical coffee maker and
kettle for Alessi
1987 Milan chair for Molteni Group;
1988 La Cupola coffee maker for Alessi;
1988 Il Conico tea kettle for Alessi;
 1989 Paris chair for Unifor now part of
Molteni Group;
1989 Decartes bookshelf for Unifor now
part of Molteni Group;
1989 Consiglio table for Unifor now part
of Molteni Group;
1989 Moment clock for Alessi.

Publications
L'architettura della città (The Architecture
of the City), Padua: Marsilio 1966.
Scritti scelti sull'architettura e la città:
1956-1972 (Selected Writings on
architecture and the city: 1956-1972),
edited by R. Bonicalzi, Milan: ULC, 1975.
Autobiografia scientifica (A scientific
autobiography), Parma: Practices, 1990.

Teatro Carlo Felice, Genoa (1981)

Bonnefanten Museum, Maastricht (1990–

94)
Quartier Schützenstrasse, Berlin (1994–
98)

Mojiko Hotel, Kitakyushu (1996–98)

 Scholastic Building, New York City (2001)

References
1. Celant, Germano & Ghirardo, Diane
(2008). Aldo Rossi: Drawings. Milan: Skira.
ISBN 978-88-6130-143-6.
2. Pritzker Prize for Architecture - chriteria
3. Goldberger, Paul (22 April 1990). "Aldo
Rossi: Sentiment For The Unsentimental".
New York Times.
4. Abramson, Daniel (2012). "From
Obsolescence to Sustainability, Back Again,
and Beyond". Design and Culture. 4 (3):
279–298.
5. Buerdek, Bernhard E. (2005). Design:
History, theory and practice of product
design. Basel, Switzerland: Birkhauser-
Publishers for Architecture. ISBN 978-3-
764-37029-9.
6.
http://archidose.blogspot.com/1999/02/te
atro-del-mondo.html
7. An appreciation of on of Rossi's last
projects (for a central district in Verona).
Archived 2006-01-28 at the Wayback
Machine.

Further reading
Pangalos, Panayotis (2008). The
significance of time in contemporary
architecture. Technical and poetic time:
the case of Aldo Rossi. Phd dissertation.
University of Patras, Greece.
Arnell, Peter & Bickford, Ted (1985). Aldo
Rossi. Buildings and Projects. New York:
Rizzoli. ISBN 0-8478-0499-2.
Berlucchi, Nicola (2000). "Aldo Rossi:
ricostruzione del teatro La Fenice" . Area
(in Italian). 51. Archived from the
original on 2008-02-13.
Ferlenga, Alberto (1996). Aldo Rossi.
Opera completa (1993–1996) (in Italian).
Milan: Electa. ISBN 88-435-5543-X.
Leoni, G. (a cura di) (1997). "Costruire
sul costruito, intervista a Aldo Rossi" .
Area (in Italian). 32: 44–47. Archived
from the original on 2003-01-06.
Polazzi, Giovanni (1999). "Aldo Rossi
Associati - Area ex mattatoio" . Area (in
Italian). 46: 106–110. Archived from the
original on 2008-02-13.
Savi, Vittorio, L'Architettura di Aldo Rossi,
Franco Angeli Edizioni, Milan, 1975.
Pangalos, Panayotis, The significance of
time in architecture of Aldo Rossi, ed.
Gutenberg, Athens, 2012.
Moschini, Francesco, Aldo Rossi Progetti
e disegni 1962-1979 (Aldo Rossi Plans
and Drawings 1962-1979), Edizioni
Center, Florence September 1979.
International Co-editions Rizzoli New
York, London Academy Edition, The
Equerre Paris, Xarait Madrid.
Tafuri, Manfredo, Storia dell'architettura
italiana 1944-1985(History of Italian
architecture 1944-1985), Einaudi, Torino,
1982.
 Ferlenga, Alberto, Aldo Rossi. Opera
completa (1993-1996) (Aldo Rossi.
Complete Works (1993-1996)), Electa,
1996.
Leoni G(ed), Costruire sul costruito,
intervista a Aldo Rossi(Building on the
built - interview with Aldo Rossi), "Area"
32, May/June 1997, pp. 44–47

External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related
to Aldo Rossi.

Pritzker Prize web page on Rossi.

Bonnefanten Museum on Aldo Rossi
Aldo Rossi archive at the Canadian
Centre for Architecture
Aldo Rossi Foundation
Various designs of Aldo Rossi
The Architecture of the city, theater of the
world. The tragic dimension of the
architecture of Aldo Rossi between
rationality and pathos, Gina Oliva (in
Italian)
"Body and architecture. Aldo Rossi and
Bernard Tschumi", Michele Costanzo (in
Italian)
Designs of Aldo Rossi in the Francesco
Moschini collection of architecture and
modern art
 Aldo Rossi, L'imagination du scientifique
et la rigueur du poète, Sabine Kraus,
2008 (in French)
Dario Rodighiero, Fabio Reinhart, Aldo
Rossi, The Analogous City, The Map,
2015
Aldo Rossi papers at the Getty
Research Institute

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