Dal Postmodernismo al Nuovo Realismo. Note sull’architettura italiana negli ultimi trent’anni

Abstract

Starting from the summary of distinct time phases of the events of twentieth century Italian architecture, these notes offer an interpretation of its last thirty years. This is a particularly important period, situated between the end of the "short century" and the beginning of the new century in which, in Italy as in other countries, modern heritage is compared with contemporary issues. This heritage gives rise to such a pronounced multiplicity of orientations as to make the intentions that it expresses and the results achieved sometimes difficult to decipher. A few paragraphs of text have been devoted to illustrating the theoretical and operational singularity of Italian architecture, especially as regards its relationship with modernity; a much-negotiated relationship, based on certain conditions considered essential, which still seems incomplete and controversial today. Returning to the thirty years in question, these notes are divided into three seasons, identified by both the internal logics of Italian architecture and by external phenomena and events. The disciplinary debate is compared with some new situations that are changing it profoundly. Together, the digital revolution, globalisation, the primacy of technique, the presence of specialisms, media pressure, the prevalence of the present and sustainability define a problematic field which is extremely complex and contradictory. Italian architectural culture reacts to this condition by dividing itself between reflecting it and countering it. In the analysis of this period, we have attempted not so much to expose opinions and judgements about what has been synthesised, as to build as complete as possible a list of themes and reasons that would put the reader in a position to freely formulate some possible interpretative hypotheses regarding a dense time frame of elements that are of significant historical and critical interest.

Keywords

• globalization
• mass-media
• technology
• specialized knoweledge
• contradiction