Prefac from the laissez (aire rhetoric of flexibly i programming branding. hybridity, and imma Pier Vittorio Aureli thot has paralyzed the recent discussion on the city. ‘ne book attempts sor of historical survey ofthe idea ofthe projeet~and, more specifically, the arshitectral project~f te cy. Far from being comprehensive, his survey aims define a possible direction for architectural research that nether src scholarly or academic, nora journalist nabs ofthe l sin the contomporary city. The book is introduced by a chapter that develops the idea of the architectural projec forthe city ands followed by eight before the project~that i, the city bebe the invention of tegory-and ending with the cllapeof the project during ie urbanization of the lst century, te book attempts, in ach chapter, to show the strategic roe played by architectural form in shaping ideas ofthe iy This survey is deeply limited focusing mostly on the history ofthe Western word. This due othe limitations of ou ids of research, but also t he conviction that most ofthe k and concepts that nave originated from this world. Yet itis our onvcton thatthe incompleteness ofthis survey is actually a ‘ritation for others to further develop this approsch, to open tempt to understand the city’s form tp towards different topics and unexpected conchsion project~that defines a political intentional ing a precondiion for engagement withthe city This book leo «compendium that presents the results plex nature. A fundamental issue at stake isthe relationship the PAD program “The Cit as @ Proj.” which I conducted between the form and ide political, The term “city” is a the Berlage institute and at TU Delt from 2008 to 2013. here defined not as a mere mas of flows and programs a a way, “The City ae a Pr be ideal continsation ital form, The terms "poltel” and “form” are assume nother program, developed between 2005 and 2009 he fundamental itera that construct th essence ofthe collaboration with Martino Tatra and Elia Zenghel I the essence of political ation i the attempt to project, reused onthe concept of "Capital Chis.” In that program. form of coexistence among individuals, it maybe said that we ad already started to analyze the relationship between architectural form-by mess of patterning. framing, hitectural form and the political by investigating a series representing the space of coexistence inevitably implies ties that presented exemplary arbun histories. fundamen political vision, Even if there is no politcal architecture, there aspect ofthe program was the revalustion ofthe notion o Is certainly a political way of making snd reading architectural turban form, which at that time wa a neglected field of study form. Far from being just anaesthetic category, physical form the political understanding ofthe cy asa constant The Cty as & Project” was conceived not just asa collection process of nelson and exclusion. This commitment findividual theses but es esearch group focuse d material responsibilty is meant tobe a departure ‘on the theme summarized above, Ofcourse wearfamiliar with and to a certain exten red of the ehetorc of Hlaboration and interdsciplinary exchange. However, PAD fen conducted ina highly individual fashion 3c only interaction happens between the candidate, the ‘on. From the beginning, we decided to challenge by meeting regularly and discussing our group's Every month a dlferent scholar whose work wa important to ws was invited to present her or his research in an bral way, We decided to reject the format ofthe “evening furs,” and instead engaged the speaker in round ab cussion that was often longer than the presentation itsel Moreover, once year we would host a oneday symposium on a specific topic (like « memorable discussion ofthe work and theories of Ludwig Hilbersemer, or an in progre presentation infront of collegues from other school and {iiversities, Without our forcing too much an overreaching igen, collective themes emerged by themselves. For example we all elt that we wanted to porsue our research on the ity by firmly remaining within our own knowledge as architects. The discipline of architecture was always our starting pon but not always our point of arrival. We did not want to prow hat architecture fs important per se, but that architecture is often the crucial nexus in the development af the city. And yet to disentangle this nexus we felt that a rigorous study o chiteture, its history, and its theory was necessary. Its important 1 remark that many of us do not intend to become historians or scholar in the traditional academic sense. We all pursued our research from the perspective of deepening four relationship w actice of architecture. This didnot ean that we wanted to glorify architecture; onthe contra. ture is only a generic container for whatever “conte Above all “The City a a Projet” was an extraordinary huma adventure that proved how friendship and camaraderie are he essential infrastructure of intelectual exchange. I belie hat "The City a a Project” has evolved a true community researchers whore work and fruitful collaboration will hopefully go beyond the completion of each dissertation deeply thank al the members ofthe program: Bernardina Borra, Amir Djalali, Fernando Donis, Maria S. Gi Hamed Khosravi, Christopher CM Lec, Francesco Marull rid Plton Issaias. Although edited by me, this book, the First product of our fouryearlong discussion, really belongs toall of us. | would especial like to thank Amie Dll and Maria Giudici for helping me assemble the book. so grateful to Umberto $, Barbier, who acted as interim supervisor, and Michiel Ried, char ofthe Public Building at U Delit Schoo! of Architecture and our current supers whose help and eriticism ofthe theses has been essen We are very grateful to Andreas and Ika Ruby for ublshing this book; we are proud t be part ofthe ‘Courageous and highly experimental Ruby Press publishing program. Thanks to Nathlie Janson and Sarah Handeiman for their editorial contributions. Above all,on behalf of “The City asa Project.” I would like thank the researchers who have contbuted to our progran in order of appearance, they are: Sven Olov Wallnstel Mary MeLeod, Philippe Morel, Charles Waldheim, Andrea Branzi, Alber Pope, Martino Tatara, Markus Klin, Jo Oskman, Matteo Pasquineli, Angelia Schnell, Nicola Marzot Tom Avermaet, Cesare Brignani, Felicity D. Scott, Mario Carpo, Lukasz Stanek, Sébastien Ma lean Louis Cohen, Anthony Vider, Sarah Whiting, Andr Leach, Tahi Kaminer, Marina Lathoui, Lara Shriver, Thomas Weaver, Gail Dy, Brandon W. Joseph, Dovgl Spencer, Christophe Van Gerrewey, and David Gissenitroddction bron hoa ite, fat comp The parent informality of the lattwentiethcentury cty and the political logic of laissez faire urban polities were fr from being “un planned’ rather, they were the result ofa specific Means to an End olitical will. Failure to understand this has made architects The Rise and Fall of the Confotble to stay within the iis oft rofesion The more architets have celebrated the urban condo Architectural Project of the City ungoverabe, he mere hey creed pre a for Pier Vittorio Aureli at their work consists of pragmatcally answering the demand: {ther ccts, Robert Vet summarized thi situation MENTE new marisa Mee has emerzed sini such a postion, this time centered on the architect a vst. Especaly since the 2007 economic recession, whe te pitfalls ofthe neoliberal economy became evident, anew ecneration of architects has advocated a more social driven ractice. They understand their postion to be emancipaled m architecture's tradltionl task designing buildings —and rvested withthe mision to addres urgent isues that i yond architecture Identified asthe “tcites In recent years the city has become a popular topic wit bhis poston is made of sometimes radically different rchigectual culture. We have grown fair wih the mantra | proaches that cannot reasonably be lonped into as that, tod than half of the worlds popltin lies in Jrovement. Yet a recurring argument ptt forward es Yet spat from the visualization of explosive factices asserts the growing ineffectualre ‘community to understand the social and politica raison det aim inevicably implies a eitique not banization. Building onthe legcy of pioneering urban sign but alzo of what ar such as Robert Venturi and Den Brown TT ores 3 Las Vega and Rem Koclbaas cones aie hve mapped xen ba stoug oympatize more wth he so ambi nitions without understanding how these urban conditions archi vist than withthe wnciial celebs ee the produc political intentions hidden beh yas a mere conglomerate of complexes and contra he spectacle of deregulated (i.e. market riven) urbana [belive that both sill underestimate (in good oF bad faith nike other political ideologies, the marke de ° the power of architecture eve i its acitional format—a ways been argued notas an idea but a a “fac, Sscipline with the design of buildings to influence ‘condition. Assuming urban chaos asa he reality of out urban condition Inthe notes that follow lem fr many arguments on the city ue that architecture has had «decisive roe informing s. Our inability to give form 1 the city has be dess, concepts, and paradigms through which the city hasved ist inthe West and then ona global sale. especial focus on theories and strategies of architecture rather rhitecure as buildings This focus on architectural theory in form of treatises on architecture is motivated bythe fa at it is precisely by being presented as theory oF a a steategy ndependent of is realization tht architecture has become ne ecks to organize the available means towards a posible end. While in ancint times there was no diference betwe which I'l elaborate later—conception, the moment of design ime independent frm building itself practicing th reas puting forward something that doesnot exis ‘such an act of anticipation has taken the form ofall those means plans, d images, texte—that are necessr in order to cons vision of future reality Yet its is also a reality in tue. The projec is the sine qua non ihe production of architecture: i gies form and reproduce Shared and thus collective knowledge that is reducible what is realized in the form of buildings and design objects, he project has always been an ambivalent framework. I has always been an ac of both emancipation from and domination act of emancipation and the wilt domination ae iipossib i disentangle [Above al, architecture as knowledge is here seen asa strategic device through which the forces at stake in the development of the city are made vsble,It x exact winen these forces become ertcally understandable that th but aso a possibilty for disentangling the means fom thei presupposed ends towards an alternative project forthe ct There is fundamental difference between the simple practice 5 building and architecture self. Architecture was invented by Vitruvius in the Inte * century BC. There had be attempts to write aboot architecture before Vitruvius, bu Vitruvius approach can be considered definitive because of his intention to construct an encyclepedic knowledge of architecture in his De Architecture Libri Decem Vitruvius was one ofthe first writes to apply the frame ofan encyclopedia to his work* The term “encyelopei’ whose literal translation i “within the circle of knowled Architectute asa comprehensive knowledge of the physical world thus became one of the first examples ofthe ‘ystematization—the architecture—of knowledge itsel. This spect seven emphasized by the formof the treatise Libri Decem (ten books) As reconstructed by Indra Kagis McEwen, in its original frm, Vitrvi's De Architect was manufactured as ten srols arranged according to th thagorean diagram ofthe tacts: rangular figure sisting often points composed in four rows,” Th arrangement in itself expressed the idea of perfection an completeness, the citele that the framework of an encyclopedia evokes to its readers. is easy associate this diagram with on In Grook and Roman civilization, the Fediment was precisely the architectural form in which archtestute best expreseed its wholeness, is definitive completeness, Until Palla systematically applied the pediment to profane architecture the pediment was the privileged form cf sacred buildings, This wll to perfection through which Vitruvius aimed t address architecture as a coherent bod of knowicd ven mote poignant when we think about the historical period in which Vitruvius wrote his book, He witnessed end of 100 years of civil war and the passage from t Republic tothe Empire, The opening line of De Ar dedicates the book to Rome's ist Emperor, Augustus. Highnos's divine miad and power, © ined the empire ofthe world, Rome gloried your triumph and victory For ll her enemies were rushed by your invincible courage and all mankind eyed your bidding; the Roman people and seat were not only fred but fllowed your guidance, inspired as it was by 8 generous imagination. Amid such afaitsI shrank from publishing my writings on architecture in which I displayed designs mide toa large scale for {feared less by interrupting at an inconvenient time I should be found a hindrance to your thought Vitruvius refers here tothe civil war, which Augustus ended with his military and political maneuvering. A fundamental trigger of the cv was that ended the Roman Republic was the soca, cultural, and, above al, religious relativism that allowed the Romans to conguer and include in thee political system foreign populations, but also made their ‘domination very fragile. Augustus’ rs to power asthe fist Emperor meant the constrution of anew political body which nt only military power but also socal and cultural ngineering played a fondamental rol. Vitruvus'sende was part of a general reassessment of knowledge in ight The systemic character of the encylopedia through which Vitruvius invented architecture as a discernable discipline was both an analogical reflection ofthe new status qu and an answer to the threat of confic and disorder th ped Augustus to take power. What was at stake in this storcal passage was the preservation ofa cvilzation through the radical restrcturing and -eorganization of its ii institutions. Vitruvius pursued this restructuring from within the medium itself by privleging writing at the form for architecture. Compared ts oral tansmsso ‘writing empowered knowledge with athorty. In this way, architecture was no longer jut the ertof building which has always being practiced by an authoriess community the ist book o supports the construction ofa building De Architectura, Vitruvius distinguished between abrca and cnato.* While fabrica teers to the practice of building refers to reasoning, the coscept ofthe building before itis realized. Here, forthe first time, the idea oft projects addressed in alts potential by beng separated rom the routine act of building. Archiectue becomes aw thinking about the world in which-as in thetorc whatrvs insistently uses categories that come from rhetoric, uch as ondinato (ordering) and disposi arrangement) The idea of authority isnot only expressed through the materiality at is built, but also through tht which signifies built matter that isto sy, the idea that transforms mater ino a anized form. Vitruvius addresses authority a-a semantic eld that transcends the difference between designer and patron and instead emphasizes the politcal authority that the struction of ebuiding represents and makes legible Not by chance, two ofthe ten books are dedicated to th ase of what Vitruvius defined as genena (types), which lat would be called “classical orders" The orders were used mostly for sacred architecture, and it was precisely within the reorganization of religious cults from the pluralism ofthe Republic toa more centralized administration tha Augustus sought the strengthening ofthe imperial body orrect use of the orders, following the Greek canon, wi thus the central analogy of the ides of order." With ther ders were assumed herent aatem by Vitruvius not only asa structural system but also as th he building isthe expression of coherene Vitruvius’ genera refer not just to the column but also to post and lintel system; a8 such, the order becomes a ritable grammar through which the building acquire simply a structural system but a clear and measurable presentation of its appearance. In this way, architecture elf as «grammar addresses the virtue and effectiveness a clea political governance in which ll he potentially alti parts are reunited into a coherent corpus body). a word that Vitruvius repeats obsessively in his Reasoning is, for Vituivs, the fundamental core of tecture, eeaue itis precisely through reasoning tha different scales and fields of applications of architectural owiedge can be reunited within one discipline. And yet this nsistence on measure and order i, in the end, dialectical connected withthe possibility of instability nd uncertainty he last part ofthe treatise, Vitruvius discusses the design the ability ofthe architect to resp chitet fo respond te unpredictable situations such as thote that arse during a military conic.” It isin this field of application that architectural knowledge reveals its ‘makes clear that no principle can be considered unchangeable but rather that each needs toe constantly redefined in ofthe uncertainty in which the architect operates While the opening tines of Vitruvius’ book refer tothe conflicts t marked Augustus's victory the conduding paragraph dedicated tothe siege of Marseille, one ofthe last fre city. sats onthe Meditrrancen fo surenderta Rome, Hse ih onanzation of architectural knowlege poe ac bend th deren ils and seal: the ul. cy, the noncoroen ime, and warfare. The project ithe a that mbna a tore logos than mate. The pssage fom Bulding to ig Vitruviu's invention of architecture was he fundamental precedent forthe conception of architectre as «project in the 15® century. Vitrvius's work became not ony the major in the rise of new urban reality. In order to indestand 10W Vitruvius’ theory resonated Pory resonated within architectural eultun in the 15° century, we need to understand the social and The recuperation ofthe project of architecture was mot above all by the transformation of tes that followed"Dark Ages." Ad sted as juridical and socal frameworks, withthe spread of Christianity onthe one hand and feudalism onthe other, a came the sine qua non ofthe social order." However, it wa nly wth the great demographic crises of the 14% century —o which the plague of 1548 was the most dramatic—that peasants from their feudal tes; they immigrated to cities nd fered their labor skis as “fee” citizens.” Howeve as Marx noted this “free” offering of labor was conditione bythe situation in which the urban proletariat found isl deprived ofthe means of production. The bourgeoisie, the clan that-as its name declares comes from the ety, is the lute protagonist ofthe rebirth of cites inthe Middle Ages fad established itself asthe subject who owned the means of otal aiemation ofthe bourgeoisie is ‘one hand, the vse ofthe bourgeoisie triggered the airmation unprecedented individual Hberties against the prerogative both the Church and feudal power. On the other hand, ce it had organized itself as political subject inthe form urgeoisie based its political power 0 he new urban proletariat." The urgent in order to economically manage cally contin the emerging working class became a ndarental riggs forthe rediscovery ofthe project ofthe city lentils industry, provoked a tumult that the historian Ernesto Serepanti has defined asthe fist modern proletarian revolution Itexploded within what, a that ime, was the tnostcaptalisically developed place in the world Inde interest (the ciampi demanded an improvement in ther working conditions and higher wages) drove the woolworkers insurgency aginst an oligarchic republic that defended Fight ofthe owners to the means of production, The revolt f the ciomp clearly iustrates what was at stake in th ibliy of an urban order that woul allow the city to be akirg. This Brunelleshi's architectural languag 1 and Gothic architecture, is adic 36 architectural revolution started by Brunell he instrument ral language in which very build eral disegno. For example, the en Br rena deprived the build design method. Yet Roms systematic as Brunelleschi understood i buildings such asthe Colosseum, which shows « sacking the ss was dominated 1 Ospedale deg fuild ofits artistic architect. Brunelles form of repeatable architecture elements, Brunelleschi imagined the buildng nota asThis understanding ofthe orders can by the same ofthe Roman and build 3 Selo'sapproad us or Alberti: he was th much more flexible use, and yet its preciseSe cece cae gle ape ierpgabei ser Uo rere Seton machrataiotoa oetaele eon Ii important aes the eywology ofthe word “poll, : witch Cones oth ae Grek term orl” Ai Seine Mpa tn pig oars , Soe ca Be Aptos Woo tfchn ronmental : the moment the architectural treatise, with its encylopedh mbitions entered its final ers, it became the model for the ety not only a disciplines in thei attempts to make tational system but also « knowable object. This is the case wit rrr chitectural treatise, which would focus on principles and rules, de la Mares Thité was written as an endless account f facts, an attempt to survey the cit in all ts contingen and pragmatic problems, The goal was the happiness of th iy’ inhabitants, but ths happiness was immediatly inked with control and prevention. The urben knowledge implied in the science of policing cannot be reduced to finite rules and prinipes, but can only b ced case by case. This is why de la Mare was unable to finish his editorial projec, and why the eneylopedic knowledge of urban and juridical sues willbe left forever open. While architecture focused on finite objects and finite imterventions, urbanism ded with the city inks and relationships where the possibility of formal representation of stable order is no longer possible Iris not dificult to see a direct relationship between de |i Mare's approach to the city and Baron Havssmann’ reconstruction of Pats starting from the 1850s. Aftc revolutions of 1848, the managing of the city became the fundamental means to strengthen politcal governance If a Mare sill atempted to system 2 his projet ofthe city in the form of a treatise, Haussmann radical tranaformatio of Paris did not happen through athe but tho igh a sequence of ad hoe at ink urban form tothe management of circulation and land speculation. Haussmann was able to propose a total project forthe cty without ever isuing a new legible master plan, Houssmann's Pars finally accomplished the itherent logic of what was embryonic inal Rensiseance and pest Renainsane reatseson architecture: the gradual transformation of the «ity into a machine for the governance of is ihabitans In Haussmana’s Pars, thi apparatus was crucially dec linked to real estate speculation. Public works (parks, boulevards, and other amenities) were strategially planned 10 increase the value of private development. Wherein previo architectural theories governance had been invoked only n terms of ble uly and safety, in Haussmann’ Pari tty and safety were immediately linked to market driven development. The rol of architecture in this famework was ive “guidelines” to urban development threugh simpl ‘and tangle rules such asthe height of each flor, the section ofthe street, and the material forthe fades. As strict asthese rules may seem, thet roe is, paradoxically to lave market-driven urban development as ie ws posable Haussmann's Pars shows both the power and the dissolution ofthe project ofthe city through the project ofits architectural form, Haussmann modernized Pais ve a cleat formal strategy in which aesthetic intentions were careful ine ned to economic opportunites at the same time, this strategy was achieved through ad hoe solutions without a onsistent urban plan. The coherence of Hausmann’ “plan ‘as ints tactical adjustment of microoperations toward a genetic economic ystem, applicable 1 the whole ct This strategy was embodied in an architectural prototype tha could not seem more distant from the grandeur of Haussmann’s Paris—Le Corbusier's Maison Domino (1914). More tha any urban theory or urban intervention proposed in the 19 20" century, this simple housing mocel manifested and mtcipated the modalities of urban development. At th boginning of the First World War, Le Corbusier inagined thi prototype as the possible basic unit for the reconstruct of Europe after the war. The name ofthe project combined domus (house) and innovation, expressig Le Corbusier conviction that a project forthe city could he developed Maison Domino consists ofa structural skeleton of reinforced éonerete horizontal slabs and pilots Here, architecture i reduced to its load bearing structure, whe internal partion nd finishing are let tothe intstive of he building inhabitants. Maison Donvino was cleary inspired bythe ope Plan logic of erly factories, such as Albe+t Kahn's Highland Park comple. The irony of this project, which would influene sllof Le Corbusier's subsequent work, isthat while it id immediately succeed as an actual proposal fr mass housing, it did anticipate che most widely diffused building method Postwar period. Especially in conten of laisse fai Planningsocalled “informal settement"-the Donvino mode has become the most effective way for dvellers to self heir house, a possibilty that had been the very raison d'etre of Le Corbusier's first sketch, What was meant to be maproduced in the Domino wat not th building but the stel formwork forthe concrete skeleton which would be cast ins The Donvino is the embodiment of 1 paradox. On the one and, it was an early example of industrial architecture in domestic space; onthe other, this technology was extended into the domain of seep construction, Le Corbusier industrialized not only the product tut also the process of bing, combining mass-production and in stu low-skilled onstruction wotk in one single press. This means that while materials and method are supported by large corporation the building process is left tothe dwellers themselves, The politcal strategy behind this projet is clear: Maison Domino was intended to solve a shortage of workers housing, and the workers were unde-tood to be the potenti ‘owners of their own dwellings, The Domino model inscribed Private ownership-—which i, for capital, the best way to control workers~ directly on the construction process of the house itself Here the link between urban form an economic investment already ertablished by Haussmann's ansformation of Pais is refined atthe scale ofthe single dweling. This concept was unprecedented, If ety planning manuals such as Camillo Site's City Panning According to Artistic Principles and Reinhard Baureister's Town Exiension imagined cites a a composition of urban blocks, square, streets, and monuments, Le Corbusier was the first to conceive of citymmaking beginning from the bai housing unit. Ludwig Hiberseimer later theorized this principle in his book GroSstadiarchitekiur He wrote hat the design of ees ‘must address the two extreme poles of urban development the individual cel and th overall urban crclaton system. As history has shown, this model has often been used to ame and contol subjects by allowing them to build their homes inthe cheapest way possible, thus taming them int small entrepreneurs. Here, again, the Donrino model was, at the ime ofits conception, bth a promise and «threat. Its promise of a new beginning for sn emancipated form of life was threatened by the possibility ofthe bese frame itself turning into a vehicle for what Walter Benjamin feared the most: the enduring logic of private property. Malson Domino is thus the most radical exanple of how, from the very beginning of modern architecture, the city wasjgned not only through large scale planning but also by he micropoltics ofthe individual uni, the domestic epace Though conceived a century ago, the Domino mode! represents lemma thatthe projet ofthe city sil faces today. T tinderstand this dileenma, we need to carefully con he iconic drawing that Le Corbusier provided as his main lustration ofthe project. This image shows archi eri, devoid of muy sontex. The inp seem rward two possibilities simultaneously. One envisages a ci completely absorbed by its economic functioning, reduced to neutral framework for further development requiring only favade the Domino model points tothe end ofthe Ireceuse the tity is ely the outcome fhe tran ‘ofthe household into an economi pparatus, a machine that inks living with ownership. The other possibilty envisages a city where architecture, even in the infinitesimal scale of architectural frm, can stil considered a project, strategy that sims not simply at any iconography and to the brute objecthood ture resembles the grammar of architectural order Cn Hogi, the poatandlintl framework. As der and completeness, but also a too or intelligibility. AS ich, architects assumed them both asa means to create a -eplabl image for architecture and asa critical framework to aller or modly this lg. The use of orders, like the any form of language, can be understood as both a means to an end and a means without an end—as something critical that doesnot necessarily lead to what a language, a form, duce. The Domino mod tation ofthe instrumental pure potential is manifested. The city as «project ie thus not ly the possibilty of radical change forthe cy, bt al the possiblity of maintaining the project as pure potenti a way to keep the future of the city openended.