Aldo Rossi (Milan, May 3, 1931 – ibidem, September 4, 1997) was an Italian architect and designer considered one of the main exponents of the postmodern movement, although he himself rejected this definition.[1].
He was the first Italian to receive the Pritzker Prize for architecture.[2].
Biography
His father owned a small rag and diaper factory, whose brand was "Rossi." He attended two different schools during World War II and then studied architecture at the Politecnico di Milano, graduating in 1959.
In 1963 he began his teaching activity, first as assistant to Ludovico Quaroni (1963) at the School of Urban Planning of Arezzo, later to Carlo Aymonino at the Instituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia").
Rossi worked for three years for an architecture magazine, and in 1966 he published his first book, published under the title "The Architecture of the City." In it he established his theories on the urban design of cities. Rossi had originally been interested in cinema, but eventually turned to architecture. However, in all his designs the features of theatrical sets are present in some way. He carried out projects for theater and opera. For the 1979 Venice Biennale he designed a floating theater, the Teatro del Mondo, with capacity for 250 spectators seated around the stage. More recently he also designed the building of the National Opera of Genoa. His first work in America was also a theater, the Lighthouse Theatre, located next to Lake Ontario in Toronto, Canada.
In his book "City Architecture" Rossi promotes different thoughts of space and architectural structures. It aims for architecture to be a positive science, to be understood as a world equal to that of scientists. Establishes theories on the urban design of cities. Regarding its ideology, we can see that it is very similar to the treatises of the classical era. He expresses, above all, points for architects of how the city could be viewed.
In 1971 Rossi suffered a car accident, the consequences of which forced him to remain in the hospital for some time. At that time, as he himself stated, his life changed, since he began to think about death. The idea arose in his mind that cities are places for the living and cemeteries are places for the dead, which also require planning and design. This is how he won the competition for the San Cataldo cemetery in Modena.
Aldo Rossi (Theoretical)
Introduction
Aldo Rossi (Milan, May 3, 1931 – ibidem, September 4, 1997) was an Italian architect and designer considered one of the main exponents of the postmodern movement, although he himself rejected this definition.[1].
He was the first Italian to receive the Pritzker Prize for architecture.[2].
Biography
His father owned a small rag and diaper factory, whose brand was "Rossi." He attended two different schools during World War II and then studied architecture at the Politecnico di Milano, graduating in 1959.
In 1963 he began his teaching activity, first as assistant to Ludovico Quaroni (1963) at the School of Urban Planning of Arezzo, later to Carlo Aymonino at the Instituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia").
Rossi worked for three years for an architecture magazine, and in 1966 he published his first book, published under the title "The Architecture of the City." In it he established his theories on the urban design of cities. Rossi had originally been interested in cinema, but eventually turned to architecture. However, in all his designs the features of theatrical sets are present in some way. He carried out projects for theater and opera. For the 1979 Venice Biennale he designed a floating theater, the Teatro del Mondo, with capacity for 250 spectators seated around the stage. More recently he also designed the building of the National Opera of Genoa. His first work in America was also a theater, the Lighthouse Theatre, located next to Lake Ontario in Toronto, Canada.
In his book "City Architecture" Rossi promotes different thoughts of space and architectural structures. It aims for architecture to be a positive science, to be understood as a world equal to that of scientists. Establishes theories on the urban design of cities. Regarding its ideology, we can see that it is very similar to the treatises of the classical era. He expresses, above all, points for architects of how the city could be viewed.
In 1971 Rossi suffered a car accident, the consequences of which forced him to remain in the hospital for some time. At that time, as he himself stated, his life changed, since he began to think about death. The idea arose in his mind that cities are places for the living and cemeteries are places for the dead, which also require planning and design. This is how he won the competition for the San Cataldo cemetery in Modena.
His first housing complex dates back to the same period, designed for a neighborhood on the outskirts of Milan, and called Gallaratese. These are two identical buildings, separated by a narrow space. For Rossi, the originality of this project consisted above all in the fact that the two buildings could be repeated several times, without the whole complex losing its attractiveness. From then on he did numerous residential projects, both homes and hotels, as well as individual houses.
In 1979 Rossi designed the innovative Floating Theatre. This construction, raised over the river, was planned as a versatile stage for the performing arts. As an architect, Rossi was always looking for ways to innovate and be at the forefront.[3].
Throughout his career, Rossi also carried out numerous important projects in the United States. One of the first was the single-family home in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania. In Galveston, Texas, he designed a monumental arch for the city, and in Coral Gables, Florida, he was commissioned to design the new School of Architecture.
In the 1980s, and specifically between 1981 and 1988, Rossi built the Berlin Houses for the International Architecture Exhibition (IBA). It is here that the characteristic motif of the monumental column in the corner, common in some of Rossi's constructions, would first appear.
In 1990 Rossi received the prestigious Pritzker Prize for architecture, the equivalent of the Nobel Prizes. His merits were not limited to the field of architecture, but he was also a designer, theorist, teacher and writer. One of the members of the Pritzker Prize jury expressed his opinion of Rossi by saying that he was a poet turned architect.
In 1995 he built the current building of the Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht, Netherlands. The design leaves much to the viewer's imagination, but the notion of the museum as a cultural symbol, with strong connections between past and present, is embodied in the building, with its familiar references and strange elements that are both reassuring and disconcerting. Rossi's work is sober and whimsical, classic and modern at the same time.
He worked as a professor of architecture at the Polytechnic School of Milan, at the University Institute of Architecture of Venice, at the Higher Technical School of Zurich and at the Cooper Union school in New York.
Rossi was one of the great ideological and plastic innovators of contemporary architecture; With his metaphysical poetry and the cult that he professed to both geometry and memory, this Milanese changed the course of architecture and urban planning in the last third of the century.
His first housing complex dates back to the same period, designed for a neighborhood on the outskirts of Milan, and called Gallaratese. These are two identical buildings, separated by a narrow space. For Rossi, the originality of this project consisted above all in the fact that the two buildings could be repeated several times, without the whole complex losing its attractiveness. From then on he did numerous residential projects, both homes and hotels, as well as individual houses.
In 1979 Rossi designed the innovative Floating Theatre. This construction, raised over the river, was planned as a versatile stage for the performing arts. As an architect, Rossi was always looking for ways to innovate and be at the forefront.[3].
Throughout his career, Rossi also carried out numerous important projects in the United States. One of the first was the single-family home in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania. In Galveston, Texas, he designed a monumental arch for the city, and in Coral Gables, Florida, he was commissioned to design the new School of Architecture.
In the 1980s, and specifically between 1981 and 1988, Rossi built the Berlin Houses for the International Architecture Exhibition (IBA). It is here that the characteristic motif of the monumental column in the corner, common in some of Rossi's constructions, would first appear.
In 1990 Rossi received the prestigious Pritzker Prize for architecture, the equivalent of the Nobel Prizes. His merits were not limited to the field of architecture, but he was also a designer, theorist, teacher and writer. One of the members of the Pritzker Prize jury expressed his opinion of Rossi by saying that he was a poet turned architect.
In 1995 he built the current building of the Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht, Netherlands. The design leaves much to the viewer's imagination, but the notion of the museum as a cultural symbol, with strong connections between past and present, is embodied in the building, with its familiar references and strange elements that are both reassuring and disconcerting. Rossi's work is sober and whimsical, classic and modern at the same time.
He worked as a professor of architecture at the Polytechnic School of Milan, at the University Institute of Architecture of Venice, at the Higher Technical School of Zurich and at the Cooper Union school in New York.
Rossi was one of the great ideological and plastic innovators of contemporary architecture; With his metaphysical poetry and the cult that he professed to both geometry and memory, this Milanese changed the course of architecture and urban planning in the last third of the century.