Analogous City

The application is part of a museum installation dedicated to The Analogous City, an influential artwork by Aldo Rossi, Eraldo Consolascio, Bruno Reichlin, and Fabio Reinhart, originally created for the 1976 Venice Biennale of Architecture. Utilizing augmented reality, the application enhances a physical reproduction of The Analogous City—accessible at http://archizoom.epfl.ch—by overlaying multiple digital layers that reveal the full range of references embedded within the collage. These layers illuminate the historical, artistic, and architectural sources that compose the work, creating an immersive experience.

This application is essential for interacting with the digital component of the exhibition Aldo Rossi - The Window of the Poet, Prints 1973–1997, presented at the Bonnefanten Museum in Maastricht, Archizoom EPFL in Lausanne, and GAMeC in Bergamo.

By purchasing the printed map of The Analogous City published by Archizoom, users can recreate the museum installation experience anytime and anywhere. The map itself features original texts by Aldo Rossi, Fabio Reinhart, and Dario Rodighiero, offering deeper insight into the conceptual framework of the project.

The Analogous City (La Città Analoga) was conceived not merely as an artistic collage but as a genuine urban proposal. Its components span centuries and disciplines, including Giovanni Battista Caporali’s 16th-century drawing of Vitruvius’ city (1536), Galileo Galilei’s 17th-century sketch of the Pleiades constellation (1610), Tanzio da Varallo’s painting David and Goliath (ca. 1625), Francesco Borromini’s architectural plan for San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (1638–1641), the Dufour topographic map of Switzerland (1864), Le Corbusier’s master plan for the chapel of Notre Dame du Haut (1954), and various architectural projects by Aldo Rossi and his collaborators.

As Aldo Rossi wrote in Lotus International n. 13 (1976):
“Between past and present, reality and imagination, the analogous city is perhaps simply the city to be designed day by day, tackling problems and overcoming them, with a reasonable certainty that things will ultimately be better.”