The Concept of Tradition in the Theoretical and Aesthetic Debate from the 1920s to the Second Post-War Period

The essay investigates the several and often mutable meanings related to the term “tradition” in the field of aesthetic reflection, along with the theoretical debate that has developed in Italy since the interwar period at the margins of architecture and the large urban tranformations. The theme of tradition is examined according to three prevailing meanings: as permanence, as continuity and as identity, as they emerge from the writings of the time. It quotes the opinions of various authors, including the membres of Gruppo 7 and RAMI (Raggruppamento Architetti Moderni Italiani, with particular reference to Carlo Enrico Rava), Gustavo Giovannoni and Marcello Piacentini, while also taking into consideration the lesser known contribution made by Salvatore Vitale, author of L’Estetica dell’architettura. Saggio sullo sviluppo dello Spirito costruttivo (1928), and Attualità dell’architettura. Ricostruzione urbanistica e composizione spaziale (1947), till to Ernesto Nathan Rogers and the debate on Casabella-Continuità.