ABSTRACT
As discussed in Chapter 4, in the early 1960s, Saverio Muratori2 and Giulio Carlo Argan3 reintroduced the notion of type into the architectural discourse. Muratori became attracted to the subject after his analysis of traditional Venetian housing, while Argan developed a reinterpretation of Quatremère’s theories by focusing on the “idea” of type, and its relationship to the notion of imitation. The contrast between Muratori and Argan would become more pronounced with the positions assumed by the “next generation” of Italian architects and thinkers-namely, the members of the so-called School of Venice. Carlo Aymonino adopted a stance that presented clear echoes of Muratori’s ideas-an understanding of type as a classification tool.4 Instead, Gianugo Polesello developed a position closer to Argan’s,
stating that while “given types have their origins in history; they may also be the product of invention.”5 The evolution of Aldo Rossi’s thought can be interpreted as a synthesis of this duality: in his first period-mainly identified with his book L’architettura della città6-he refers to type as a tool for the analysis of architectural and urban inventory; in his later texts, such as “An Analogical Architecture”7 and Autobiografia Scientifica,8 he understands type as a fundamentally poetic notion, a precept capable of evoking analogic associations.
