European Architecture Research Articles

“Ars sine scientia” or rather “Ars sine geometria”? The debate of 1400 on the elevation of Milan cathedral

The construction of Milan Cathedral from 1386 was one of the most important episodes in the history of Italian and European architecture because of the uniqueness of the building itself — the largest Gothic church ever constructed in Italy — and because of the presence of some of the most authoritative architects of the late Fourteenth and Fifteenth centuries in Europe (Lombard, French, German).The documentation about the discussions on how to build the Duomo in the late Trecento and early Quattrocento, especially on the structural choices to be made and the different Lombard and Northern building-site practices, made famous to English readers in a celebrated article by James Ackerman, is extraordinarily rich and extensive, permitting considerations on the relationship between medieval architectural ideals and an actual project.The paper focuses on the famous discussions of 1400, in part a re-run of those of 1392. It will be argued that famous criticism by the French expert Jean Mignot of Milanese architects involving the terms ars and scientia could have a very different meaning from the one generally accepted in the literature. Consequently, it will result that Mignot wanted to return to the original project proposed by Gabriele Stornaloco, which embodied the desired correspondence between the sacred architecture and the perfect God’s world.All of which, could be of some interest to medievalists in general, and to those concerned with architectural theory and with the relationship between Gothic architecture and literature in particular.

A Holistic Approach to the Institutional Architecture of Financial Supervision and Regulation in the EU

A growing consensus has emerged in the post-crisis financial regulatory agenda that the European architecture of financial supervision and regulation is far from ideal. Rather than moving to a ‘holistic’, cross-sectoral regime such as the ‘twin peaks’ model, the post-crisis reform simply upgraded the previous supervisory colleges to EU agencies, resulting in the three sectoral bodies for banking (EBA), securities markets (ESMA), and insurance (EIOPA). The major risk of such a sectoral architecture is that separate agencies may fail to recognise any cross-sectoral problems and risks that are evolving, may fail to adequately address financial conglomerates, and may more generally encounter fundamental challenges in adopting a more holistic approach to financial regulation and supervision. This paper examines the case for adopting a more integrated architecture in the EU. We show that lawmakers were not only unable to seize opportunities for reform – largely, due to path dependencies – but have also let those opportunities pass by when they presented themselves – such as Brexit or the ESAs review. The present political climate does not leave us to expect any significant reform anytime soon. Therefore, we strongly argue that the reform architecture of the EU should be modified incrementally, and without need for Treaty revision. Hence, a bottom-up experimentalist approach appears as a viable path towards the implementation of a twin peaks model, or, possibly as a more viable and desirable path, a hybrid model that nevertheless preserves some of its main advantages.

Imágenes desarraigadas Fotografía y arquitectura moderna en Brasil en los años treinta

Imágenes desarraigadas<br />Fotografía y arquitectura moderna<br />en Brasil en los años treinta

Portland Bay and the Origins of European Architecture in Port Phillip 1828-1836

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the European colonisation of Portland Bay, Port Phillip District of New South Wales from 1828 to 1836. Its starting point is the mercantile origins of settlement which began with activities of sealers in the 1820s and whalers from 1833. In 1834 the Henty family from Launceston but originally from Sussex, England, established a permanent base there. The paper argues that these whaling establishments, hitherto unstudied in the architectural literature, with their industrial infrastructure (“grey architecture” after Bremner) were the beginning of European architecture in Victoria. Evidence is drawn from primary sources including sketches of the bay by John Helder Wedge (1835), the Henty Journals (1834–36), the 1835 watercolour of the bay by George Jackson and the record of Major Thomas Mitchell’s visit to the bay in 1836. By uncovering the Henty family’s extensive mercantile interests in Australia from their arrival on the Swan River in 1829 it reveals the relationship between whaling, trade, shipping, and settlement.

The Swiss Circle of Magallanes: European Architecture in Chilean Patagonia

In recent years, legal protection of buildings and sites in Chile has increased. Also different initiatives regarding cultural heritage have been developed through public financing, at both regional and national levels. An appreciation of architectural heritage has achieved an important role in the country. This article presents the results of historical research, regarding the headquarters of the Swiss Circle of Magallanes. This building was constructed in the 1920s in Chilean Patagonia, in the city of Punta Arenas. The organization of both the Swiss Circle and its building are part of the city’s history related to the European immigration that took place in the region during the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. The immigration process in Chilean Patagonia was led by means of colonization policies, by the national government. The aim of these policies was to consolidate the occupation and development of this remote territory, historically hard to populate. The distance from populated economic centers, as well as the cold weather and difficulties for agriculture were the factors that made these lands hard to be effectively occupied. Immigrant groups arrived at Punta Arenas from different European nations. Italians, British, French, Spanish, Croats, Germans and Swiss were some of the nationalities that arrived to the city; some of them were organized according to the official settlers groups. It is possible to determine the arrival of Swiss settlers to Punta Arenas since the second half of the 19th century. The establishment of the Swiss Mutual Aid Society in 1902, and the creation of the Swiss Circle in 1920, reflected the social organization of Swiss settlers and their descendants, many of whom stayed in the region. This social organization finally materialized in the construction of the headquarters of the Swiss Circle of Magallanes, still preserved nowadays. The Swiss Circle was built of timber following the European concepts related to traditional Swiss chalets. This building represents the adaptation of foreign ideas and styles to a local context, related to the international immigration in Magallanes. For almost a century, the Circle has served the Swiss community and the residents of Punta Arenas. Even though, some interventions have modified the building over time, the original design still remains, and it can be recognized as a Swiss chalet located in this southern Chilean city. The Swiss Circle of Magallanes bears witness to the colonization efforts made in Chilean Patagonia since the second half of the 19th century, as well as the complex social settlement process of immigrant groups at that time. This building also represents an interesting synthesis that combines foreign and local building techniques and styles. Nowadays, the Swiss Circle is a space for cultural dispersion of Swiss traditions and it is materially and immaterialy deep-rooted in the local memory. This building relates to the Chilean national history of territorial occupation, and it is a relevant part of the city’s special character, built upon by immigration. In recent years, the Swiss Circle has been recognized as an official heritage and efforts have been made locally to plan for its future restoration.

Masters and teachers, housing innovations in designs of the professors of the Faculty of Architecture in the Warsaw University of Technology at the beginning of the 20th century

The Faculty of Architecture in the Warsaw University of Technology (FA WUT) was established in the first quarter of the 20th century, when in European architecture and art, traditional trends were intertwined with new ideas, which inspired building´s creativity. In 1915, the Society of Science Courses and the Association of Technicians attempted to create a Polish university and polytechnic in Warsaw. Finally, at the newly created technical university, an independent architectural faculty was established. The members of the Organizing Committee and future professors represented the diversity of the architectural environment, both thanks to the education in various European schools (polytechnics, military schools and art academies), as well as the different aesthetic interests. This diversity was fully reflected in the architectural creativity of that period. At the beginning of the 20th century, the traditional craft thinking turned into the scientific interpretation of spatial activities, which stimulated the interest in novelty. The innovation was understood as in humanistic disciplines -like the ability to discover and test the solutions which deviate from the standard and which induce a rapid change in quality. Innovations of this period took the form of abstract and realistic ideas, methods based on alternative sets of criteria and technologies. They concerned the urban and architectural scale as well as the detail. In the particularly demanding living environment design, they manifested themselves in many objectively new values, such as functionalism, social housing, extensive typology of dwelling layouts, innovative reinforced concrete constructions of open plans, new standards of insolation, ventilation and many others. The paper is a summary of analyses regarding modern thoughts about living, present in selected projects and realizations of FA WUT professors, 1918-1939. We discuss the project of an extremely minimalist villa in Gdynia designed by Bohdan Lachert and Józef Szanajca (1926), Barbara and Stanisław Brukalski house at Niegolewski Street in Warsaw (1928), considered the first implementation of avant-garde architecture in Poland, the sanatorium house in Konstancin (Skolimów) by Helena and Szymon Syrkus (1930-1931) or the housing estate of the Warsaw Housing Cooperative. The aim of the analyses is to define innovative solutions: more functional, efficient and human-friendly, spatial and technical innovations, in the scale of the building, housing estate and a wider urban and social environment.

Temple, machine, caravan

Between 1965 and 1975 there was an intense debate in Italy about theatrical culture, which encompassed theatre building and the urban, social, and political roles of theatre. It was articulated around three terms that imply three ways of relating the theatrical building and the city: the temple, the machine, and the caravan. This unusually rich debate has been largely ignored in the historiography of Italian and European architecture, despite its intensity and the importance of its protagonists for the architectural culture of the twentieth century.

— Trans —

To introduce ourselves first, we are a group of human beings working together only because of one hidden school — EASA ( European architecture student assembly).
 It works like a perfect filter. Filter for those that are looking for more than general education.
 Forming this vision about education was a general effort of 5 of us till the very end. Following text is not just about transdisciplinarity but about educating ourselves in communication, values, equality and daily choices. We´ve learned how to take a creative critique, how to trust each other, but mostly to understand that no one of us would make this alone.

Review: Electric Light: An Architectural History, by Sandy Isenstadt and Palazzos of Power: Central Stations of the Philadelphia Electric Company 1900–1930, by Aaron V. Wunsch and Joseph E. B. Elliott

Sandy Isenstadt Electric Light: An Architectural History Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2018, 304 pp., 27 color and 109 b/w illus. $44.95 (cloth), ISBN 9780262038171 Aaron V. Wunsch and Joseph E. B. Elliott Palazzos of Power: Central Stations of the Philadelphia Electric Company 1900–1930 New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2016, 160 pp., 124 b/w illus. $29.95 (cloth), ISBN 9781616895006 “A bicycle shed is a building. Lincoln Cathedral is a piece of architecture,” Nikolaus Pevsner famously wrote at the beginning of his Outline of European Architecture .1 The two books under review, both of which deal in various ways with electricity and architecture, offer compelling evidence of how far the study of architectural history has moved away from Pevsner's formulation. Beyond this, the books diverge. Sandy Isenstadt's Electric Light is a series of meditations on the way electrical lighting has altered both the built environment and our perception of it. In contrast, Palazzos of Power , with text by Aaron V. Wunsch and images by Joseph E. B. Elliott, is a case study of a single building type erected by a single company in a single urban area over a narrow time span. It is probably best to think of Palazzos of Power as a portfolio of photographs. It includes a short but eloquent foreword by David Nye, the peerless chronicler of the history of technology, who puts the subject into a broad historical perspective. Wunsch contributes an informative essay that discusses in more detail the history of the Philadelphia Electric Company (PECO), the technology it employed, the buildings it erected, and the two men most responsible for the buildings pictured in the book, namely, company engineer William C. L. Eglin and the Philadelphia architect John T. Windrim. According to Wunsch, PECO was the result of a series of mergers that took place during a period of tumultuous technological change in the electrical industry. The result was a unified power company for the Philadelphia region, one of the country's most heavily industrialized urban areas. As the company grew, it became clear that the power stations located in the city center and using direct current for transmission were insufficient to …

Pengaruh Arsitektur Modern Pada Desain Masjid Istiqlal

Modern architecture in its golden age has given a lot of influences to many architectures around the world. The spread of modern architecture at that time could not be stopped and became a style that is widely used throughout the world including IndonesiaThe influence of modern architecture emerged in Indonesia during the Dutch colonial occupation. European architects at that time introduced classical European architecture and modern architecture to Indonesian society. During the Colonial occupation and at the beginning of Indonesian independence, European architects designed public buildings such as government buildings, places of worship( like mosques and churches) and commercial buildings as well as several residences using classical European architectural and modern architecture.As the example that we can still see now is the Istiqlal Mosque in Jakarta, Indonesia, which was designed by architect Friedrich Silaban who self-taught modern architecture. The design of the Istiqlal mosque at a glance looks very much influenced by modern architecture, although domes and tower as a characteristic of Middle East architecture is still been used.The mosque as a whole is designed to look monumental which emphasized the used of a mixture of modern architecture styles.

Древнеиндийские пещерные храмовые памятники как объекты уникальных средовых комплексов

The article outlines the features of creating cave temple monuments in India. A comparative analysis of some aspects in the architectural traditions and building technologies of the temple architecture of Europe and India is given. The impact of construction technologies on the interior spaces, the interiors of temple complexes cut in rocks and integrated into integral systems of environmental complexes is affected.

THE UNKNOWN PROJECTS OF PIETRO ANTONIO TREZZINI. ON THE TYPOLOGY OF CENTRALLY PLANNED CHURCHES IN RUSSIAN AND EUROPEAN BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE

The article deals with two unknown projects made by the Swiss-Italian architect Pietro Antonio Trezzini, who was active in Russiabetween 1726 and 1751. According to the Commission of the Senate,in 1747 Trezzini designed a five-domed cathedral in Stavropol, forwhich he provided two design options. One of these projects, whichwas approved by Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, was realized between1750 and 1757. In both projects, Trezzini presented the cathedralas a monumental five-domed centrally planned church, which isan integral part of Trezzini’s designs. All but one of the Orthodoxchurches designed by the architect had five domes (we know of13 such designs, including all the alternative versions). AlthoughTrezzini was not a initiator of this new type of five-domed centrallyplanned church, his work displays the most mature and diversedevelopment of this approach in Russian Baroque architecture. The article describes the general features of Trezziniʼs churches andcertain individual ones as well.Trezzini’s projects for five-domed churches were directly relatedto the revival of a traditional type of Orthodox church proclaimedby the Empress Elizaveta Petrovna. This idea was widely reflected inRussian church architecture of the time, but its concrete realisationwas rather varied. An attempt is made in article to characterise thissituation by briefly focusing on a comparison of Trezzini’s designsand the five-domed centrally planned churches designed by otherarchitects.The five-domed churches, which were revived in mid-18th centuryRussia and persistently promoted as a national and Orthodox solution,actually had nothing in common with local medieval tradition.Typologically, the five-domed Russian churches of the mid-18thcentury were rooted in European architecture, namely in ItalianRenaissance and Central European Baroque architecture. The mostimportant European sources of inspiration were probably St Peter’sCathedral in Rome (a project by Michelangelo), the Church of StCatherine in Stockholm and the Frauenkirche in Dresden, which theleading mid-18th century architects in Russia were undoubtedlyfamiliar with European, primarily Italian, churches with twosymmetrically placed towers on the western facade and a domeover the intersection, for example, Sant’Agnese in Agone in Rome,should also be taken into consideration.

PATTERNS AND CHARACTERISTICS OF OLD CITY MORPHOLOGY (CASE STUDY FORT MARLBOROUGH, KAMPUNG CHINA AND KAMPUNG MALABERO KOTA BENGKULU)

Urban Morphology is an applied science that studies about how the pattern of a city space were made by the history , and also learn about the development of a city. The old city area of Bengkulu is a British-formed city starting in 1719 which has special characteristics. This paper aims to identify the pattern and special characteristics of the old city morphology in Fort Marlborough Region, China Town, and Tapak Paderi area in Bengkulu City . Methodology used in this study is a qualitative descriptive with diachronic reading and typo-morphplogy analysis. To get the pattern and characteristics of those mentioned areas, detail aspects such as buildings and materials, road and block patterns, land use activities and open spaces were used as an indicator. Result of the studies shows that there is a change in the urban planning of Bengkulu city. At first, British colonial planned Bengkulu as a port and trade city where the beach of the bay area was the center of the city. But later, with the development of the city, Bengkulu is no longer a seaside city anymore. Now, Bengkulu has been growth towards the south and west of the city. It’s showed by the transfer of the city center from fortress area into the Bentiring area . In term of material, road and block patterns , and also land use activities , can be seen tha t there was a concentration of road and block patterns where almost all the blocks had the same size with close distance, at first of British colonialism. There are also three main nodes which confirm the city center, along with an other small nodes that mark the city area. But now days, morphological characteristics of Bengkulu city especially for the road and block patterns are heterogeneous , where there are two or more patterns were collid e s , and the main road axis have north-south pattern. The building s also have changed, from adoption of European architectures at first, into vernacular architecture that adapts Indonesian climate by using gable and shield roof now.

A Pioneer of “Moresque” Revival in Continental Europe: James Cavanah Murphy (1760–1814)

The pioneering impact of Arabian Antiquities of Spain by Irish Architect James Cavanah Murphy (1760–1814) on nineteenth-century architecture in Europe and the USA is considerable. This article provides a new interpretation of the architect and his life and works, located in the wider professional networks of academic circles and scientific communities. His engravings of some of the major monuments of Hispano-Islamic architecture add to the reinvention of the Islamic legacy of al-Andalus, a cultural translation of “Moresque” architecture, ornament, and polychromy.

The Place and Potential Role of the OSCE in the Changing Architecture of European Security

The article analyzes the key aspects of the development of relations between Russia and the OSCE from the point of view of the complex issues of Euro-Atlantic security. According to the author, the acсession of Crimea to Russia and the crisis around Ukraine have further exacerbated the preceding tensions in bilateral relations. Today, they are much like the Cold war confrontation. In Europe, the military confrontation is now intensifying. Today Moscow is openly accused of undermining the foundations of the post-war order in Europe, of illegal steps to break the generally accepted international legal norms, of aggressive intentions that threaten European stability. At the same time, the existence of significant distrust between Russia and the West does not mean that we should wait for some pause, abandon attempts to take constructive steps to re-establish cooperation. Such an approach would be counterproductive – especially since both sides are sending, albeit muted, signals of readiness for dialogue. In this situation, the author proposes a number of initial steps that could increase the level of trust between the parties, would ideally move to a meaningful dialogue on the future of the European security architecture. Various OSCE mechanisms could play a useful role. The author emphasizes the importance of increasing the effectiveness of the OSCE-originated crisis mechanisms in the context of the erosion of strategic stability on the European continent as a result of the unprecedented deterioration of relations between Russia and the West. Special emphasis is placed on modernization of the crisis management potential of the OSCE and promotion of dialogue between the West and Russia, including the establishment of a novel consultative platform in the framework of the OSCE to discuss emerging crisis situations. A number of specific confidence-building measures are proposed to restore dialogue and find solutions to crisis situations in the region.

Architecture and Nation. The Schleswig Example, in comparison to other European Border Regions

Looking back at the five analyzed border regions, one might conclude that the relations between nation and nationality on one hand and architecture on the other hand demonstrate interesting similarities and differences. Thus, Schleswig and Lorraine had much in common regarding to national schism and the development of a counter-architectural style in opposition to the vociferous German architectural politics. Contrary to Schleswig, the French-minded architects chose a nostalgic ´old Paris´ style, whereas the Danish movement in North Schleswig kept in close connection to contemporary Danish architecture. However, neither of the two parts in Lorraine developed a distinct vernacular style. Thus, Schleswig and Alsace underwent a more parallel development of a vernacular style, accepted by all, although the Schleswig Heimatstil was still considered either as a German-Schleswig style or a Danish-Schleswig style by the two national parts, whereas the Alsatian vernacular style rather symbolized a widespread wish for autonomy. Looking at Posen and Western Prussia as well as South Tyrol, none of the irredenta movements cared much about architecture, seeking the national battlefields in other arenas, in particular language, land-ownership and public presence. The German politics of architecture, especially the national romanticism of Emperor Wilhelm II and Franz Schwechten, can be seen as an attempt to solve the problem with the historical and cultural dissimilarity of the Reich. Nevertheless, the demonstrations of the imperial style were particularly directed towards the selected German ´border fortresses´ of Metz and Poznan. Niels Wilcken has interpreted this mechanism as expression of a doubtfully legitimate claim for power in a border region with a disputed state of affairs´. In spite of all borders and national divides one should not forget, however, the strong transversal impact from the great currents of European architecture as well as the influence from the architectural academies. Thus, a South German regionalism extended its influence from the Munich academy not only to Bavaria, but to Austria, Tyrol and Alsace, too. Another example is the Strasbourg neo-classicism from the years before and after World War I, which was originally developed at the academies of Stuttgart and Karlsruhe and kept its status as the dominating style on both sides of the Rhine until World War II. Likewise the Schleswig Heimatstil – amalgamated with the Danish Bedre Byggeskik style – was usable for all national parts until the post-World War II years. Speaking lastly of border region architecture as heritage, one must underline that every nation has a responsibility for the heritage inside its borders, no matter which side created the actual buildings and monuments. In matter of fact, the maintenance of the heritage from the ´other parts´ should not only be a accepted, but also a consciousness of the importance of the ´foreign´ heritage that could highlight one´s own history and culture is paramount, enabling a more genuine understanding of both sides. Therefore researchers, heritage authorities and historians have a common responsibility for turning national heritages into common heritage.

Phenomenon of Polish Religious Architecture of the End of the Twentieth Century

It is truly difficult to find another European country where over two thousand churches were built over the last thirty years. This boom in religious architecture in our country, which is compared to the times of the very dawn of Christianisation, or to the period between the World War I and II, when Poland regained independence after the period of partitions, should be associated predominantly with the figure of Karol Wojtyła – the Polish Pope. He encouraged crowds of investors and residents of Poland to strive for new religious buildings to be erected in new districts of towns and cities, where for decades’ residents had not been able to obtain political authorities’ permissions for new places of worship. The goal of the research was to determine differences between the style of religious buildings erected at the same time in Western Europe and in our country. Isolation of Central European states in the 1970s and 1980s from access to the most advanced building technologies and materials forced to reach for traditional methods of erecting temples. A considerable role in this respect was also played by economic reasons, as churches were largely built by means of the economic system and were financed by parishioners. Amongst churches that mushroomed in Poland since the end of the 1970s, as well as in the 1980s and 1990s, several stylistic tendencies can be differentiated, characteristic for the contemporary architecture. Not all directions present in the European architecture were represented in the Polish architecture in that period. It seems that the majority of the projects represent the trend of Late Modernism. In the early 1980s, Postmodernism reached Poland, much later than projects implemented in the United States of America and in Western Europe. Religious architecture, inspired by forms of historical temples and monasteries, present for centuries in our landscape and well known to users, was being built according to the principles of these stylistics, too. The significance of the tradition of the place was restored; while searching for neo-nativeness, designers turned to forms well-known and accepted by the faithful. These quests fascinated some architects at the time. The analysis of hundreds of built churches, in terms of their external form, as well as their interiors, points to the acceptance of the quest of references to the past. Simultaneously, it should be emphasised that within the territory of our country, especially in the countryside or in small towns, one can encounter religious buildings which are quite uninteresting and difficult to be assigned to any trends in the contemporary architecture. Parishioners often lost patience and were tired of waiting for decades for permissions to erect new churches; at the same time, they were afraid that the period of fewer restrictions relating to building new temples would soon pass. Today, these projects, often implemented in great haste, wait for subsequent generations of users, architects, and artists to start to restore them for the resources of culture.

Multi-family Buildings - Architectural Trends of the Last Three Decades in Poland

During last almost three decades’ architecture in Poland is developing in a very dynamic way, some Polish new projects became famous and have won international competitions (e.g. sport arenas in Warsaw, Gdansk, Art Garden in Cracow, Philharmonic Hall in Szczecin, Cultural Centre in Szczecin, Opera House in Bialystok, etc.). But in the transformation period in Poland we can find also many significant examples of housing architecture as well one family houses as multi-family (residential) buildings. In the article the author is taking the trial of synthetic analysis of the evolution of multi-family buildings architectural forms in Poland after 1989. Based on the analysis of a few hundred housing projects, the author identifies the main - in his opinion - trends of creating the forms mentioned above, ideas of design these buildings and elements of their architecture – the architectural game. The author used the following methods during the research - case studies analysis, made in the chronological way, which was predicted by collecting materials, identification of new concepts using the analysis of architectural composition of elevations and details. As the result of research they have been identified following trends and styles as the most important: creative pluralism, traditionalism, postmodernism, new modernism, architectural game of elevation details, concepts - “idea of the form”. These trends create a kind of evolution line corresponding chronological development. The research proved that the quality concepts of architecture of multi-family buildings in Poland in the mentioned period of time increased very much and now they represent high quality European level. Some of Polish housing projects realized during last 28 years became famous and have been marked in the history of Polish and European architecture. Presented in the article creative attitudes and projects are not the closed list, they will be developed and completed during next research.

Traditions of Classicism in the European Architecture of the XX Century

Analysing the architectural theory and practice of the XX century, many researchers focus on currents and directions, united by the name “modern”. The beginning of this approach was put by Manifesto of Futurism (Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, 1909), which proclaimed the need for each generation to create his own living environment. This type of thinking was characteristic of most architects of the XX century, who created “new traditions”. In parallel, artistic trends developed, based on regionalism, the traditions of neoclassicism or historicism. The variety of the phenomena of architecture of the XX century can be placed between two poles. The first pole defines “The spirit of time” (Zeitgeist), i.e. caused by the needs of our time social, technical, aesthetic and other problems, realized in theory and practice in the corresponding architectural forms. Toward another pole, architectural solutions gravitate due to the search for the Ideal of Architecture, Hegel’s “perfect being,” not related to time and the cause of its emergence. One of the options for such searches was the use of classic forms. An analysis of the use of the traditions of classicism in the architecture of the XX century is devoted to this publication.

The contemporary project of the tall residential building, between density and intensity

The essay investigates models and techniques of intervention for increasing the urban density, illustrating how the tall building can be a still useful device in the densification processes, and what circumstances it should face also in relationship with its evolution in the European architecture of the XX century. Several recent case-studies allow to highlight the role of the technology, addressed not only to overcome height limits, but also to actuate regenerative operations on existing tall buildings, and the necessity of associating, to the increase of density in the urban fabric, the development of an intensity of uses and relationships that can arise and intertwine in it.