Famed architectural historian Manfredo Tafuri died on 23 February 1994 in Venice. A prolific scholar and author of the topic of Italian architecture and its multiple valences, Tafuri was born in Rome in 1935. As a young man he initially pursued training as an architect, studying at the Scuola Superiore di Architettura in Rome. Shortly after graduation in 1959, though, Tafuri turned his attentions to the theories and interpretations of architecture.
His first book publication, Teorie e storia dell’architettura (Theories and History of Architecture), released in 1968, received widespread acclaim and set Tafuri on course to become on the most influential architectural historians of the age. His specialization in the field Renaissance architecture combined with the infusion of his Marxist ideology yielded some of the most pivotal texts on the topic, including his discussions of Renaissance masters such as Raphael and Francesco di Giorgio Martini. Though his subsequent publications at times attracted criticism, Tafuri today is nevertheless still recognized as contributing significantly to the field of Italian architectural history.
Photo of Manfredo Tafuri. Undated.
Cover, Interpreting the Renaissance: Princes, Cities, Architects (Yale University Press, 2006).
Cover, Theories and History of Architecture (Icon, 1981).
Cover, Architecture and Utopia: Design and Capitalist Development (MIT Press, 1979).