City and memory as project tools

Abstract

The paper of Alberto Ferlenga, who is Rector of IUAV University of Venice, is included in the book: Città e memoria come strumenti del progetto. This contribution attempts to answer the following fundamental disciplinary questions: Does it make sense to believe that architecture can embody a particular culture which, in turn, can be grounded on both the aggiornato city study and the revisiting of its own history? Is it possible to conceive a renewed relationship of this binomial able to develop specific theories which would prevent architects from succumbing to taste prevalence or absolute arbitrariness temptations?
Ferlenga argues that all this is possible although he recognizes the difficulties of the present period of architecture characterized by an increasingly marginal practice as well as the golden isolation of its most significant manifestations. “…if we look around, we see architectures unable to become cities and cities in which architecture is no longer seen as integral part of their shaping. It is necessary to propose a new idea of shared quality allowing the consideration of its verifiable effects.”