Guido Canella

The events presenting two remarkable books such as Guido Canella 1931-2009 [Franco Angeli, Milan 2014] and Guido canella, Architetti italiani nel Novecento [Christian Marinotti edizioni, Milan 2010] were tributes payed in 2016 and 2010 by the Accademia Nazionale di San Luca to Canella’s outstanding work. In the last decade other events (the seminar “Carlo Aymonino e Guido Canella. Architetture che dialogano”, the exhibitions “Guido i’ vorrei che tu Carlo ed io fossimo presi per incantamento...” and “Per Aldo Rossi. dieci anni dopo”) recalled the long lasting dialogue he had with other two masters of italian architecture such as Carlo Aymonino and Aldo Rossi. With the more modest aim to highlight the rigorous and passionate way Canella was used to dialogue with his students, here by it is presented the complete transcript of a conversation we had in 2004 in his studio in Milan, on the issues of my PhD studies. Canella reviewed the transcript at the time, granting me to include it in my doctoral thesis. As I was studying the concepts of “monument” and “context” in the perspective of the museum, I intended to experiment in Apulia his theoretical statement for the “museum as a project” that interacts with cultural, social and economical dynamics. Through this conversation, it is possible to glimpse some of his views on architecture, city and territory, on the civic role of the architect, as well as other fundamentals of his lesson that still inspire those who continue his legacy, and those younger architects and scholars who, as me, had the chance to discuss with him.