Building versus Bildung. Manfredo Tafuri and the construction of a historical discipline

This is a study of the Italian intellectual Manfredo Tafuri, who was one of the most important architectural historians of the 20th century. Tafuri was also a controversial intellectual, who was associated with the Italian radical Left in the 1970s. This study sheds a light on the context of Tafuri and on the mainspring of his actions, as well as on his place in a larger framework of 20th century intellectual and architectural history.