Over the past forty years, Giancarlo De Carlo has been one of the leading figures of the Italian architectural scene, remarkable both as a theorist and a practitioner. A critical survey of De Carlo’s work, this book traces the evolution of his ideas and identifies the influences that have made him one of the most penetrating and prophetic architectural thinkers of our time. Preceding the Post-modernist outcry by at least twenty years, De Carlo became known in the ‘40s and ’50s for his uncompromising attacks on the International Style. These culminated in De Carlo’s membership of Team X, the group of young delegates whose withdrawal from the Otterlo Congress in 1959 undermined the old Modernist establishment and precipitated the demise of its most famous organ, CIAM. His concern for the social and political implications of architecture emerge forcefully throughout his theoretical and built work. Understanding the social nature of context through ‘participation’ is, for De Carlo, a necessary complement to studies of its physical and historical nature. His interest in the historic city and his skill in ’reading’ it are demonstrated eloquently by his continuing involvement with Urbino since 1958, when he began work on the town’s development plan and laid the groundwork for an astonishing series of subsequent interventions. In recent years, ‘reading’ and ’participation’ have been the focus of the International Laboratory of Architecture and Urban Design, a forum of ten international universities, founded and co-ordinated by De Carlo. In addition to running his practice, De Carlo is a Professor at the University of Genoa and editor of the quarterly review, Space and Society. With the inclusion of De Carlo’s key essay, Architecture’s Public (1970), as well as a wide-ranging interview and numerous excerpts from his writings, many translated for the first time into English, Benedict Zucchi’s book provides a unique insight into the breadth and timeliness of De Carlo’s thinking. Well illustrated with numerous drawings and photographs, this book is the first comprehensive survey of the theoretical and built work of this important architect.
Community Notes