A highly personal reflection on the practice, teaching, and very essence of architecture and design.
"What is architecture?" Many great architects, from Ludwig Mies van der Rohe to Etienne-Louis Boullée, have grappled with this question. This book has emerged from a process of personal reflection of the author on the practice of architecture and is, in essence, a collection of thoughts on how to understand architecture and architectural design. It does not aim to provide an exhaustive or systematic treatment. These reflections—shaped through teaching—remain personal, even if they aspire to be shared by others.
The crux of the argument made here is that the history of architecture should be recognised as the foundational matrix of architectural identity. Starting from this premise, the inquiry delves into the essence of architecture and design; it asks how this discipline can be taught and learned, what constitutes a theoretical text on design, and what defines architectural research. The book addresses those who, much like an architecture student, wish to "understand better".
Vittorio Pizzigoni was born in Bergamo and graduated in architecture from the Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia (Iuav), where in 2007 he was awarded a PhD in History of architecture. In 2004 he co-founded the architectural practice baukuh, with which he has taken part in international exhibitions and realised significant works, including Casa della Memoria in Milan (2015) and the European Library of Information and Culture (BEIC) in Milan. He has authored over 150 publications and has taught at various institutions in Italy and abroad. Since 2012 he has been Assistant Professor of Architectural Design, and since 2019 Associate Professor, at the University of Genoa, Italy.
