Architectural Design for Architectural History: an Approach to the Subject Between Possible Research Directions and Perspectives

Abstract

Interest in architectural design is at the heart of architectural history, and those working in the field cultivate it because of the multiple points of reflection and interpretation it offers, from ideation to realisation. In this contribution, with the awareness of an impossible exhaustiveness considering the vastness of the theme and the different declinations with which it can be approached, an attempt has been made to identify some possible research perspectives. The reading of the design document that goes beyond an outdated aesthetic approach or that considers it prevalently a tool for narrating the design process of the factory, opens up to broader analyses. These analyses take into due consideration the personalities that produced the documents, the contexts in which they were produced, and the social dynamics of legitimisation and self-representation. Complex relationships are woven between professionalism, workers, and clients in these contexts. This approach nurtures new avenues for investigation, often in less well-known and peripheral areas, and promotes an interdisciplinary approach and comparison with other sectors. The most recent studies, which have advanced new or less frequented proposals for this.