Manfredo Tafuri Books

Manfredo Tafuri was a pivotal figure in 20th-century architectural history, challenging established views that characterized the Renaissance as a "golden age." His work was marked by a sharp critique of previous historians and theorists, whom he accused of partisan "operative criticism." Tafuri saw architectural history not as a linear progression, but as a continuous struggle on critical, theoretical, and ideological levels, shaped by the constraints of practice. For him, architecture, defined by the tension between its artistic character and its technical dimensions, was a field perpetually in crisis, making it a vibrant arena for debate. His later scholarship involved a profound reassessment of Renaissance architecture, exploring its social, intellectual, and cultural contexts and the power of representation.