Radical Pedagogies: Manfredo Tafuri

Recently I have been studying the discourse of Italian Architect Manfredo Tafuri, summarizing the ideas that defined his career at the 'Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia' (IUAV) in video. Because the video's purpose is to be informative rather than critical, I would like to articulate on my personal thoughts on Tafuri's discourse, and what the ideas presented may suggest for the future.

Architecture of Reason

One of the primary aspects Tafuri addresses in his Pedagogy is the parallels between Architecture and Politics. Specifically, Tafuri focuses on the socio-political constructs that influence the vision of a nation; a utopia shall we say. This is reflected in Tafuri's evaluation of Washington DC's design in 'Architecture and Utopia'. By criticizing the urban design of the city for its subservience to a will for a united society in the United States, Tafuri denounces the role of capitalism and industrial development in architecture into the domination of 'reason' in ideology.

The Washington Monument as a universal symbol of all its people; of unity

Architecture of Criticism

In doing so, Tafuri associates 'reason' to a united society; to an ascension beyond "man's diabolical insistence on remaining man." (Tafuri, Architecture and Utopia, 74). It is in this sense that polemical movements like Dadaism and the Soviet Avantgarde rebel against. By restructuring the metropolis from a united society into a collective society - a complex construct of subjective actions - Tafuri parallels the polemics of these movements with Marxism; as a criticism of the role of capitalism in creating a utopia, and its inherent fusion with reality and reason.

Objective vs Subjective

In presenting the roles of Capitalism and Marxism in our perceptions of our socio-cultural and physical environments, Tafuri was able to establish a dialogue between architecture and politics in times of political chaos. The articulations on how the latter influences the former creates a clear framework that suggests architecture as both a construct of reason, and of collective ideology.

In the greater scheme, I believe the tension between society as a union and collective, is a debatable topic in our political structures today. Whether it be the representation of the individual in a whole nation, or within the micro-politics of a single institute, to what extent should reason and utopian thinking be implemented into our society? While Tafuri proposes an architecture returning "to sublime uselessness", is an architecture without an objective; without answer but rather questions that spur subjective discourse, the direction we should take moving forward?