Collection Guide
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Rossi (Aldo) Papers, 1943-1999
880319
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections
Title: Aldo Rossi papers
Creator:
Aymonino, Carlo
Creator:
Eisenman, Peter, 1932-
Creator:
Hollein, Hans, 1934-2014
Creator:
Krier, Rob
Creator:
Tafuri, Manfredo
Creator:
Krier, Léon
Creator:
Rossi, Aldo, 1931-1997
Identifier/Call Number: 880319
Physical Description:
34 Linear Feet
(31 boxes, 14 flat file folders, and 1 roll)
Date (inclusive): 1943-1999
Abstract: The Aldo Rossi papers contain a selection of works by the prolific architect, writer, artist and theorist. The collection
includes notebooks, lectures and course materials, assorted writings and correspondence, drafts for publications, clippings
and ephemera. A set of architectural drawings for the Palazzo dei Congressi, Milan (not realized) consisting of preliminary
sketches and design plans as well as an architectural design in pencil and oil are also included.
Physical Location: Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the
catalog record for this collection. Click here for the
access policy .
Language of Material: Collection material is in Italian.
The collection is organized in five series: Series I. Lectures and course material, 1954-1985; Series II. Drafts and writings,
1943-1999; Series III. Correspondence and business documents, 1954-1988; Series IV. Notebooks, 1949-1986; Series V. Architectural
designs, 1972-1982.
Biographical / Historical Note
One of the most important Italian architects of the second half of the 20th century Aldo Rossi is considered by some to be
an integral author of the postmodern movement of architecture. Rossi received international acclaim not just as an architect
but also as a designer, artist and theorist.
Rossi was born in 1931 in Milan. He began his studies in architecture in 1949 at Milan Polytechnic. He completed his architecture
degree in 1959 and in 1965 Rossi was appointed to the Architecture faculty at Milan Polytechnic. Rossi was suspended from
teaching in Italy in 1971 along with members of the Council of the Faculties of Architecture, Milan due to his political activities
in support of the student movement. However, he returned to teaching in Italy four years later. Rossi taught at many universities
in Europe and the United States including Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule in Zurich, Cooper Union in New York and the
University of Venice in Italy. He also lectured substantially and regularly attended conferences domestically and internationally.
Rossi's numerous publications include the influential
L'archittetura della città and
Autobiografia scientifica. From his student days onward he contributed to various journals, especially
Casabella taking a position at the journal as editor from 1964. His articles and essays considered the city as a place of collective
memory, charged with symbolic values, asking architecture to reflect upon its own history.
Rossi was a founder of the Tendenza movement, an architecture movement with origins in Italy, sometimes referred to as Neo-Rationalism.
Tendenza rejected the elaborate and utopian design tropes of the avant-garde and focused on the political and critical aspects
of a realistic architecture. Rossi's architecture used a limited vocabulary stripping architecture to its core. His work focused
on simple typology and morphology manifested in primal forms such as cones, cylinders, prisms and cubes. Among Rossi's most
well known architectural projects are the Teatro del Mondo for the Venice Biennale; the Cemetery of San Cataldo in Modena;
the Carlo Felice Theater in Genoa; and the Gallaratese Housing Complex outside of Milan. At various times he collaborated
with architects Gianni Braghieri, Morris Adjmi and Umberto Barbieri.
For some, Rossi's drawings and design work are equally if not more important than his architectural projects. Influenced by
the Surrealist painter Giorgio Di Chirico his artworks have an enigmatic, poetic quality. Rossi also designed furniture and
in 1980 Alessi began producing Rossi's designs for tea services and coffee makers. His art was regularly exhibited nationally
and internationally.
The Pritzker Architecture Prize was awarded to Rossi in 1990. He also received the 1991 American Institute of Architecture
Honor Award, the 1991 Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture and the Campione d'Italia nel mondo. Rossi died in Milan in 1997.
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Contact
Library Reproductions and Permissions .
Acquired from Aldo Rossi in 1988.
Aldo Rossi papers, 1943-1999, The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles, Accession no. 880319.
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa880319
Preliminary processing and inventorying were completed upon receipt. Laura Schroffel wrote the finding aid in 2013 under Ann
Harrison's supervision.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Aldo Rossi papers contain a selection of works by the prolific architect, writer, artist and theorist. Manuscripts, typescripts
and clippings make up most of the papers. The writings in the collection represent Rossi's process of transforming texts.
Similar ideas and often sections of writing appear in altered form as notes, lectures, course materials and published works.
Rossi's iterative writing is often annotated, and drafts of the same works appear in more than one series. Also included are
several examples of his projects and designs represented in sketches, formal building and site plans, and notebooks. The highlights
of these materials are the stunning notebooks which capture Rossi's artistic dexterity as well as his theoretical interests.
Among the lectures and course material in Series I are unpublished speeches, conference papers, and notes for teaching. Subjects
include design theory, history and principles of architecture, and rational architecture. These materials show that Rossi
lectured extensively both domestically and internationally.
Series II includes drafts of Rossi's books
L'archittetura della città and
Autobiografia scientifica as well as work he contributed to other authors' books, notes, and preliminary and final drafts of his writings. This series
also includes project plans, project descriptions and official letters for such projects as Piazza di Sannazzaro and the Scandicci
competition. Rossi bibliographies, ephemera, photographs, and additional clippings are located in this series. While most
clippings comprise articles by Rossi or about Rossi there are also materials outside of this scope that were most likely used
for Rossi's research or that reflect his personal interests.
Series III contains correspondence and business documents such as incoming and outgoing letters concerning current topics
in architecture, symposia and interview proposals, work contracts, invitations, publishing information, student research papers
on Rossi buildings, and financial statements. Color slides or photographs are occasionally included with correspondence. Correspondents
include Carlo Aymonino, Peter Eisenman, Léon Krier, Rob Krier, Paolo Portoghesi, Hans Hollein, and Manfredo Tafuri.
Series IV includes 32 of the original 47 numbered notebooks, also known as "i quaderni azzurri," that highlight Rossi's architectural
creative process. Rossi often drew before, after and during the construction of a project. Some notebooks contain graphic
sketches, often in color, revealing Rossi's practice of reinventing repetitive design themes. The 32 notebooks display the
minimal elegance and gravity of Rossi's artistic practice, with drawings that were often highly evocative of a given design's
physical realization. This series also includes other notebooks and sketchbooks. Notebook content often includes notes, sketches,
drawings, comments on travels, analyses, and drafts of letters. A photocopy of
Il libro azzurro notebook and sketchbook as well as photocopies of other sketchbooks and notebooks are also included. Additionally, typescript
drafts of writing including draft versions of
Autobiografia scientifica can be found here.
Series V comprises drawings and plans with no associated papers. The Palazzo dei Congressi plans are filed here and include
several building plans with hand-drawn color details. This series also includes a detailed drawing in color signed by Rossi.
All of the series in the Rossi papers maintain the original order of the acquisition; consequently some work in each series
does not precisely reflect series descriptions.
Other collections relating to Aldo Rossi may also be found at the following locations: Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA);
Deutsches Architektur Museum, Frankfurt (DAM); Maxxi Collection, Rome; Aldo Rossi Foundation, Milan; Museum of Modern Art,
New York (MOMA).
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Architecture -- Italy -- 20th century
Gelatin silver prints -- 20th century
Color photographs
Architectural drawings -- 20th century
Sketchbooks -- Italy -- 20th century
Correspondence -- 20th century
Architecture—Study and teaching
Photographic prints -- 20th century
Color slides
Black-and-white negatives
Loos, Adolf, 1870-1933
Ungers, O. M. (Oswald Mathias)
Kaufmann, Emil, 1942-
Le Corbusier, 1887-1965