Invisible Cube: Aldo Rossi's Early Works with Gianugo Polesello

Abstract

Before the movement Tendenza in 1973, Aldo Rossi and his collaborator Gianugo Polesello examined cubic components. In the early 1960s, they co-founded Studio di Architettura (SDA) and designed “Centro direzionale di Torino” and “Monument for the Resistance in Cuneo”, which are now known as “Rossi’s earliest work”. This essay selects 13 cubic architectures designed by Polesello and Rossi, making 3D models with cubic proportions. From the definition of “transparency” of Colin Rowe, three tendencies of transparency are categorized: “literal cube”, “phenomenal cube” and “fluctuating cube”. To explain their difference, Polesello prefers a “literal cube” along a rationalistic 3D cube grid, while Rossi prefers a “phenomenal cube” with triangular components on the façade. Judging from three representations of the cube, the two intended the concept of the “Invisible Cube” in their architectural design.