Teatro del Mondo, Elba Cabanas

Aldo RossiWW-1931-137174

1931·Ink and marker on paper·20 × 29.6 cm (12 × 15 1/2 in.)

<p>Some of Italian architect Aldo Rossi’s most moving projects existed only as temporary buildings, including beach cabins for the island of Elba and his floating Teatro del Mondo (Theater of the World), designed for the 1979 Venice Architecture Biennale. These projects appear in this fantasy landscape: the row of peaked roofs represent the former, and the building with an octagonal tower is the latter. Also included in this sheet is his Gallaratese housing block in Milan. The drawing brings together depictions of Rossi projects as part of a mythical landscape that also recalls the forms and structure of historical cities, aligning the architect’s work with the many revivals of the postmodern era.</p>

Catalogue

Year: 1931
Medium: Ink and marker on paper
Dimensions: 20 × 29.6 cm (12 × 15 1/2 in.)
Collection: Art Institute of Chicago
Artist: Aldo Rossi

Artist

Aldo Rossi

Drawing

Aldo Rossi was an Italian architect and theorist whose work centered on the relationship between architecture, memory, and the collective symbolic order of cities. Operating across building design, urban planning, and drawing, he developed a distinctive approach grounded in the study of historical form and typology rather than functionalist doctrine. His theoretical writings, particularly The Architecture of the City (1966), established him as a leading voice in postwar architectural discourse. Rossi's built work, including the San Cataldo Cemetery in Modena and the Gallaratese Housing in Milan, manifested his commitment to reason, geometry, and the retrieval of classical architectural principles within contemporary practice.

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