Introduction: A book on architectural theory

This book, based on the writings of Luigi Moretti (Rome, 1906–1973), is a work on contemporary architectural theory. It is intended to be an example of a confident and fruitful dialogue between the testimonies of the past and the expectations of the present, with the aim of making this dialogue the basis on which to inform and prefigure the future. The privileged reference in this dialogue is offered by Luigi Moretti’s conspicuous theoretical production and in particular by the writings published between 1950 and 1953 in the seven issues of the journal SPAZIO, of which he was the founder and editor, to which is added, at the end, a further article published in 1971–1972, in the first issue of the journal MOEBIUS, directed by his friend and colleague Giulio Roisecco. This last article, though not belonging to SPAZIO, fits right into this path, representing a sort of point of arrival. In this dialogue, Moretti is called upon to synthesise over 40 years of theoretical and practical action, reconstructing the link in the constellation of his cultural references and intuitions, which led him to postulate and apply the principles of parametric architecture as early as the early 1940s. Each article included in this book is presented in two forms, both as an iconographic appendix, in its original form of text and image, as conceived and composed by Moretti himself for the pages of SPAZIO, and as a pure text translated from Italian into English. The translation has been carried out with great care and respect for the original text, to guarantee the scholar, the possibility to refer with confidence to a piece of writing that preserves the utmost coherence with the thought expressed by Moretti in his speeches. In addition to this mainly informative testimony, each translated text is followed by a critical essay of commentary and in-depth analysis that, addressing the theme of the single editorial, intends to dialogically reactivate Moretti’s theoretical thought by updating its contents within the contemporary debate.