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.
A history of Venetian culture from the beginning of the 16th century through the first decades of the 17th century. This study records the battle that was fought for architecture as metaphor for absolute truth and good government.
Architecture and Utopia leads the reader beyond architectural form into a broader understanding of the relation of architecture to society and the architect to the workforce and the marketplace.