Recontextualizing Tafuri's Critique Of Ideology

Author(s): Pier Vittorio Aureli

Source: Log, No. 18 (Winter 2010), pp. 89-100
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PierVittorio
Aureli

Recontextualizing

Tafuri's
Critique

Of
Ideology

In 1970,ManfredoTafuripublisheda longarticletitled
"LavoroIntellettuale e SviluppoCapitalistico"("Intellectual
Workand CapitalistDevelopment")in thejournal
1.Manfredo "Lavoro Intellettuale 1The articlefollowedthe
eSviluppo
Tafuri, Contropiano. publicationof hismore
Capitalistico,"Contropianofamous"Peruna Critica
2/70(1970): 241-81. Thefirst part ofthe dell'IdeologiaArchitettonica"
article
waspublished asthe third chapter("Toward a CritiqueofArchitectural
inProgetto
eUtopia under the title Ideology")published
e The of title in the same in 1969. 2 "IntellectualWork
"Ideologia Utopia." change journal Remarkably,
hasperhaps contributed tothe overshad-and
ofthe theme ofintellectual work CapitalistDevelopment"containsno reference to archi-
owing tecture Rather the article is a dense
inTafuri's
historicalproject. See proper. reflection on the
Manfredo Tafuri,Progetto eUtopia (Bari: natureof intellectual workitselfas seenwithinthecondi-
Laterza,197?),49-72; Architectureand
Utopia:
Avant-garde andCapitalist tionsestablished bythecapitalistsystemofproduction.If
Development,trans.
Barbara Luigia La "Toward a
Penta(Cambridge: MITPress, 1976). CritiqueofArchitectural Ideology"had a large
2.Manfredo Tafuri,"Per unaCritica criticalreceptionat thetimeof itspublication,"Intellectual
Architettonica,"
dell'Ideologia Contropiano Workand CapitalistDevelopment"remainedin itsshadow.
1(1969):31-79;trans, as"Toward a
CritiqueofArchitectural in K.
Ideology," By reapproaching Tafuri'scritiquethroughhisarguments
MichaelHays, ed.,Architecture Theory aboutintellectual
Since
1968 MITPress, 1998), work, it is possibleto suggestthatthecri-
(Cambridge:
6-35.Asiswell known, thisarticle was tiquewas not directed towardarchitecture and itsproj-
asthe book eUtopia. only
developed Progetto but was also concernedwiththethemeof "intellectual
ofcrisis
?.Project isanexpression often ect,
usedbyTafuri toidentify the coreofthe work"and withculturein
ideaofthe andonethat
project, Marco general.For thisreason,at this
has
Biraghiappropriated to describe the criticalmoment, it is worth theattempt to recuperate Tafuri's
coreofTafuri'swork. SeeMarco Biraghi,conceptof intellectual work as a force in his
dicrisi
Progetto (Milan: Marinotti major argument
Editore,2005).More recently Biraghi and as thereasonfortheradicalityof hiscritiqueof archi-
haswritten anessay onTafuri's ideaof
theprojectasaproject ofcrisis, which is tecturalideologyas thepremisesof his "projectof crisis."*
oneofthe most penetrating analyses of Throughhisintenseactivityof historicizing thedevel-
Tafuri's
work. SeeMarco Biraghi, of architectural fromtheRenaissanceto
"Tafurielacrisi,spiegatiaglistudenti opment modernity
delprimo anno,"inOrlando diMartino,the1970sneo-avantgardě, ManfredoTafuriwas thefirst
ed.,
Manfredo : Oltre
Tafuri lastoria
(Naples:Edizioni Clean,2009), 19-26. intellectual in thefieldof architectural historyand criticism
Fora critical
account ofTafuri's early to understandthatitwas no longerpossibleforintellectuals
intellectual
formation, a fundamental
readingisalsoGiorgio Ciucci, "The to addresstheissueofsocialand culturalchangesprovokedby
FormativeYears," Casabella619-620 froman outside
(1994):12-25.Themost accurate capitalistdevelopment perspective.Indeed,for
readingTafuri
ofTafuri's
work available inEnglish isin therewas no outsidepositionin capitalism,sinceits
Anthony Yidler's
book, Historiesofthe was constituted
ImmediatePresent:
Inventing Architectural totality bytherealityof "wagedlabor,"which
Modernism (Cambridge: MITPress, also incorporated theroleof theintellectual. Consequently,
2008),157-89. he understoodthata critiqueof capitalismcouldonlybe
producedfromwithin , fromthecategories and formsthrough
whichintellectuals were- consciouslyor unconsciously -
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 culturallymediatingtheeffects of continuedcapitalistpro-
ductionor participatingin itsreification.For Tafuri,and for
thosewho influenced hiscritique,thisnew conditionmeant
thatanycriticalandpoliticaldiscourseneededfirstofall to be
addressedto intellectuals
as workersy ratherthanto "others"
(workers),contradicting the idea thatthesocialandpolitical
mandategivento theintellectual couldbe takenforgranted.
To properlyunderstand thisshift,Tafuri'scritiquemust
be seenin theoriginalcontextin whichitwas formulated:
thedebatethattookplacein Italyin the1960son intellectual
workperse in relationship to itsimpliedpoliticalmandate.

Reformismand Its Critique

In the1950sand '60s Italywentthroughan intenseprocessof
modernization thatchangedthepolitical,social,and cultural
geography of the country. Whathappenedin theUS in the
1930s occurred in the northern partof Italyin the1960s:the
beginning of a Fordist -Taylorist organizationofworkand
industrialproduction.This led to a shiftfroma backyard
capitalismbasedprimarily on accumulation, to a formof
of
capitalismbasedon thepolitics "wagedlabor,"technolog-
ical innovation, and theorganizationofproductionthrough
thereorganization of theentirespectrumof socialrelations.
For thisreason,manyintellectuals in theearly1960sbegan
to understand capitalismnotsimplyas an unjustprocessof
circulationand distribution, but,as MarioTrontiwould call
it,as "The Plan of Capital"(a termTafuriexplicitly appro-
priatedin Architecture and Utopia):a new cyclein whichthe
organiclinkbetweencapitalismand thepostwarwelfare
4."IlPiano wasthe
delcapitale" of statewas thenew formof capitalistdomination.4
title The most
a fundamental
essaybyMarioTronti effect
of this new was the establish-
in1962
published inthejournalQuaderniimportant political cycle
Inthis
Rossi. essay,theRomanphiloso- mentof thefirstcenter-left government in Italy,in 196?,in
pher,who wouldhave influence
a strong
onTafuri's ofarchitec- which theItalian SocialistParty ÇPSI) took activepart.The
political
analysis
turalandurbanhistory, to
attempted involvement of theleftin thegovernment of a countrythat
analyze domination
capitalist asavast,
almost
integral, biopolitical that was partof theAtlanticPactwas seenbymanyleftist
project intel-
extendedpolitical to
sovereigntyall lectualsand politicalactivistsas thesignof capitalism's
ofhuman
aspects SeeMario
labor. Tronti,
"IlPianodelcapitale," Rossi
Quaderni i development: it couldincorporate as a new socialinterface
45-71.
(1962): theveryforcesthathad opposedit.
In thesecondhalfofthe1950s,following theUSSR's1956
invasionofHungaryand theprocessofde-Stalinization, the
ItalianSocialistPartystartedgraduallytowithdrawfromits
historicalalliancewiththeCommunistPartyand simultane-
ouslyto intensify itspoliticalrelationship withtheChristian
Democrats.Atthebasisof thispoliticalshiftwas thesocial-
ists'beliefin thereformability ofcapitalism towarda rational
and sociallysustainableformof economy.Accordingto the
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 Italiansocialists,rationally plannedcapitalist production could
be usedas meansforsocialjusticeifreformed at thelevelof
workers'welfare.Theirconceptof economic planningwas the
rationaland fairmanagement of industrialproduction
through a vast and comprehensive organizationof a welfare
program. For this reason the socialists startedto abandonthe
in
notionof classconflict favorof the idea of thereform of
theproductionsystemas thescientific management ofpro-
ductiveforces.This positionled manysocialistpoliticians
and intellectuals to embracewhatwould becomeone of
Italy'smainpoliticalthemesof the1960s:reformism. Asthis
ideology was adoptedbyprogressive and
politics by the state,
5.Itisimportant tonote thatinthe early it became a fundamental pole of attraction for manypro-
1960s Tafuri wasvery close tothe posi-
tionsofreformism. Hisearly articlesand gressiveand liberalintellectuals. To modernizebecamean
essays,especially those devoted tourban imperative formanyleftist politiciansand intellectuals, but
planning, were clearly influenced bythe also a diffuse
ethos ofreformist socialism.Inthose sensibility that crossed many sectors of cultural
yearsTafuri still
believed inthe possibility Withinthewave of theeuphorically rationalist
oflinking the revision of production.
historiographie
modernism with a design approach tothe ethosprovokedbyreformism, stronginterest gathered
ashisplanning
city, projects andstudies aroundissuessuchas new thelegacyof
with the
developed group (ArchitettiAUA regional planning,
Urbanisti Associati) demonstrates. See social-democratic urbanism,and theroleof designin all
Manfredo Tafuri, Giorgio Piccinato, "La
Cittàterritorio: Verso unanuova dimen- aspectsof everydaylife.5The culturalprototype of thiswave
sione,"Casabella Continuità 270(Decemberof socialistreformism was theaffirmation ofAdriano
1962): 16-25. Olivetti's"Comunità,"6 an attemptto transform a factory
6.Comunità wasalsothe title
ofthe jour-
nalpublished by Olivetti,to which into a cultural campus that elevated production thepossi-
as
Tafuri contributed several and
articles,
the name ofthe publishing house affili- bilityof a sociallysustainableand culturallyarticulated
atedwith Olivetti's center.This publish- community. Olivettiinvolvednotonlymanagersbutalso
inghouse produced oneofTafuri's first
and writersin theworkat hisplant.7The
books, a monograph onthe Italianarchi- artists,designers,
tectandtown planner Ludovico Quaroni.intentof Olivettiwas to demonstrate on theone handthe
SeeManfredo Tafuri, Ludovico Quaroni e
losviluppo moderna
dell'architettura in intrinsically rational nature of productionand on theother
Italia(Milan: Edizioni diComunità, the of a new social humanism basedon industrial
1964). Theassociation ofTafuri with possibility
Comunità demonstrates how hisreceptiondevelopment.8
ofthe critique ofreformism developed The newwave of classconflictthattookplacein Italyin
only inthe latterhalf ofthe 1960s.
7.TheOlivetti plantwaslocated atIvrea, the1960sstartedpreciselyfromthecriticism of thereformist
Piedmont, where Olivetti promoted a
inwhich the main facilities
were ideology that accepted and even idealized productionas a
campus
designed by Italianmodernist architects. scientificand thusreformable configuration of development.
Theproject waspursued asanattempt to
reform industrial lifewith a communi- Reformism was thusattackedas thenew politicaland cul-
tarian spirit,andfor this reason it turalformof capitalistpoweroversociety, as capitalism's
attracted many leftistprogressive intel-
lectualswho were hired byOlivetti as most advanced form of ideology.
"cultural" producers. Fora study onthe The principaloppositionto thereformist
Olivetti town inIvrea, seePatrizia ideologyof
Bonifazio, Olivetti
costruisce:Architettura industrialproductioncamefroma groupof leftist militants
moderna a Ivrea (Milan: SkiraEditore, affiliated withthejournalQuaderni Rossiand who laterwere
2006).
8.Michelangelo Antonioni's trilogy - called"theOperaists."One of themainthesesof thisgroup,
L'Avventura (1959), LaNotte (I960), and firstformulated Raniero
Deserto Rosso (1964) - isoneexample of by Panzieri,thesocialistactivist
a cinematic deconstruction ofthese and translator of Marx,was thattheworkersshouldnot
premises.
onlydemandsocialreformof themodesofproductionbut
also claimpoliticalpoweroverthem.Panzieritheorizedthis
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 kindofworkers'powerin a fundamental essayat thevery
beginning of Italian autonomous Marxism as "workers'con-
9.Raniero Lucio
Panzieri, Libertini, trol" ( controllo operaio).9 For the Operaist, workers' control
"Settetesi sulcontrollo operaio," in
Mondo Operaio (February 1958), repub-
was thestruggle againsttheveryessenceofproduction: work,
lishedinMondo Operaio:
Rassegna mensileitsorganization, itsplans,and itsleapsforwardin termsof
economia
dipolitica, ecultura, antologia
1952-1964 (Florence:Luciano Landi, technological innovation.This critiqueof capitalismwas
1965),880-903. directednotonlyat meansof circulationand consumption,
10.Raniero Panzieri,"Sull'uso delle
macchine nelNeo-capitalismo," Quaderni butalso,and mostof all, at methodsofproductionitself,at
Rossi1(1961): 53-72. whatPanziericalledthe"machines,"thetechno-socialappa-
11.Foranoverview onthe development
ofOperaismo andafter, seeStephen ratusrequiredto extrapolatesurplusvalue fromthewholeof
Wright, Storming Heaven: Class Composition socialrelationships.10 On theone hand,thiscritiquewas
inItalianAutonomist Marxism (Pluto
Press:London, 200?)-Foranoverview basedon a directreadingof Marx,especiallythefourthsec-
onthe early Operaismo, andespecially tionof thefirstbookof
onitsmost influentialfigures - Panzieri Captai, wherethefounderof mod-
andMario Tronti- The
seemy Project of erncommunismdescribesseveralphasesin thehistoryof
Autonomy: PoliticsandArchitecture Within
and Against Capitalism(New York: industrial production, and oftheGrundrisse ; and on theother,
Princeton ArchitecturalPress, 2008). on a reneweduse ofthecritiqueofideology, whichwas aimed
12.Both Adorno's andBenjamin's writ-
were introduced tothe Italian audi- against all those institutions that were preserving thereality
ings
ence and
byessayistpolitical activist ofproductionas an essentialformof capitalistsovereignty,
Renato Solmi, who translated both
Adorno's Minima Moralia and Benjamin'ssuchas thestate,theunions,and "culture"perse.11The cri-
writings, collectedinthe anthology tiqueof culture,and especiallyof theprogressive cul-
leftist
Angelus novus.Solmi's literary work had
aprofound influenceonItalian culture, tureand itsmediation at theservice of capitalism's reformist
not only because heintroduced the topics strategy, becamea fundamental assetof thecritiqueof ideol-
andideaofthe Frankfurt School, but
alsofor hisown intellectual commitment ogypracticedbytheOperaists.A critiqueof ideology,on the
toeditorial work asthe most crucial
point ofcontact between political agency
one hand,advocateda resistanceto reformism, especiallythe
andcultural production. SeeTheodor W. reformincarnatedbyprogressive formsof culture,and on
Adorno, Minima Moralia: Meditazioni to rethinkthefunction of intellectuals
dellavita trans.Renato Solmi theother,attempted
offesa,
(Turin:Einaudi, Walter
1954-); Benjamin, withintheframework of classstruggle(the veryagents
Angelus novus: Saggieframmenti, trans.
Renato Solmi (Turin: Einaudi, 1962).See engagedin thecritique).
alsoRenato Solmi,Autobiografia documen-
taria:
Scritti1950-2004 (Macerata:
Yerbarium Quodlibet, 2007). György The Mandate of Intellectuals
Lukács's DieSeele und dieFormen (The The effects of capitalistdevelopment on culturalproduction
Souland the Forms) wastranslated bythe to questiontheirpoliticalman-
Operaist andlater
activist analyst of led manyItalianintellectuals
post-Fordism SergioBologna and intro- rethinktheroleof theintellectual in a capitalist
duced byFranco Fortini.SeeGyörgy dateand to
Lukacs, L'Anima eleforme (Milan: Sugar, context. It is not by coincidence that in this perioda strong
1963). interest in the format of the "critical essay"appeared.
13.Theodor W.Adorno, "Ilsaggio come literary
forma," inNote perlaletteratura The socialand culturalchangesprovokedbytherapidmod-
1943-1961, vol.1,ed.E.DeAngelis,
trans.A.Ferioli, E.DeAngelis, G. ernizationof thecountryarousedsuspicionof traditional
Manzoni (Turin:Einaudi, 1979). See literaryand artisticformsin whichthemediatingroleof the
Theodor W.Adorno, "The Essay as use of the
Form," Notes toLiterature ,vol.1,trans. authorwas notquestioned.For thisreason,the
Sherry Weber Nicholsen (New York: criticalessayformatwas strategic - it was the most legiti-
Columbia Press,
University 1991). "Der
first
alsForm," published in Noten mate form of cultural production because of its explicitself-
Essay
zurLiteratur I (Frankfurt amMain: as a critical form. The Italian translation of
1958)andlater inGesammelte referentiality
Suhrkamp,
Schriften11(Frankfurt amMain: threequintessential criticalessayists, GyörgyLukacs,Walter
1974),was written between to
Suhrkamp,
195+ and1958. Benjamin,and TheodorAdorno,in the1950scontributed
theinterest in theliteraryform.12 For Adorno,thecritical
essay was the truly heretical and anti-institutional formof

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 mediatingtheconceptofpublictruth.As he wrotein "The
Essayas Form,"theessayis themostradicaldialecticalform
14.Oneofthe most critical assessmentsbecauseof itsexplicitly mediatedcharacter.
ofintellectual work this By making
during period itsartificial itsself-reflexive editorial
wasLuciano Bianciardi's LaVita agra explicit construction,
( TheBitter Life), anautobiographical natureactsfromwithinthereifiedsphereof culturalpro-
novel inwhich Bianciardi, the translator
ofAmerican authors such asJohn ductionin whichcultureis administered as an industry.1*
Steinbeck, William Faulkner, andHenry For thisreason,the which embodies themostartifi-
Miller, narrated the vicissitudes ofa essay,
young intellectual during the economic cially constructed and mediated form of writing,has the
boom ofthe early 1960s. Bianciardi,who inherent to become the ultimate formof criticism.
worked forthe Italian leftistpublisher possibility
Feltrinelliandwasfired for lowproduc- Accordingto Adorno,thefunctionof thecriticalessay,by
tivity,laterbecame a crucial figurefor virtueofits enableda theoretical
thetheorists ofcognitive labor, such as format, interrogation ofthe
Paolo Virno, who have described way culture itself
was produced and reified. For a philosopher,
Bianciardi's novel asoneofthe first
pro- an artist,a filmmaker,
found of the of a writer,or a scientist, adopting the
analyses implications
cultural industry andcognitive labor.In formof thecriticalessay intellectual work
a revealing ofthe novel, challenges by
passage quoted theway culturewas managedas a systemof
byVirno, Bianciardi reflects onthe diffi- transgressing
culty ofmeasuring the productive output in termsofitsspecializations .14Fromthebeginning
ofintellectual work. "There isaneasy production
measuring stick for the worker andfor of his career,Tafuri,morethananyotherarchitectural his-
the peasant, onewhich isquantitative:torianbefore embraced the form of the within
does the somany him, essay
factory produce pieces this
perhour, does the farm yield aprofit?In tradition, leadingbacktoperhapsMontaigne.Evenin his
ourprofessions itisdifferent, there are
noquantitative measuring sticks. How earlyessaysand articlesTafurialwaysproblematized his
does onemeasure the skillofapriest, or criticalperspective, the
making essay only not a discourse on
ofajournalist, orofsomeone inpublic a but also on the "reflexive"
relations? Thesepeople neither produce from particularobject subjectitself,
scratch, nortransform. They areneither on the"authoras producer,"to use Benjamin'swords.This
primary nor secondary. Tertiary iswhat
they areandwhat's more, I would dare self-interrogative literary form,in whichtheworkis critical
say. . . even four times removed. They notthroughitsmessagebutthroughitsmediumand itscon-
areneither instruments ofproduction,
nor drive beltsoftransmission. They are struction, was Tafuri'spreferred methodology forlevelinga
a lubricant, asthe most pure Vaseline. fundamental of
How canoneevaluate apriest, ajournal- critique thearchitectural cultureofthetime,
ist,apublic relations person? How can a culture that was more anxious to deliver statements than
onecalculate the amount offaith, of to assessitsown instrumentality. But before
purchasing desire, oflikeability that takingup this
these have
people managed to muster specific it is
critique, important to mention an intellectual who
up?" SeeLuciano Bianciardi, IlLavoro wouldhavea influence on
culturale (Milan: Paolo great Tafuri's of
critique ideology.
Feltrinelli,1957);
Virno, The Grammar ofthe Multitude: For Betweenthe1950sand 1960sin Italy,theintellectual
anAnalysis ofthe Forms ofContemporary
Life(LosAngles: Semiotext(e), 2004), 57. who,morethananyother,investedin theessayas themost
15.Franco Fortini, Verificadei poteri: radicalformof critiqueof intellectual workin a capitalist
Scrittidicriticaediistruzioni letterarie
(Il
Saggiatore, 1965). society was Franco Fortini. A poet and prominent communist
16.SeeFrançoise Very inconversationintellectual, and fora shortperiodcloseto theOperaists,
with Manfredo Tafuri, inCasabella
619-620 (1994): 36.Even inthe early Fortinipublishedhismostimportant book,Verifica deipoteri
1990s, during hisvery last seminars, ( Verification thePowers in It is interesting to note
which I hadthe toattend, of ), 1965.15
opportunity
Tafuri mentioned Fortini'sbook asavery thatthisanthologyof essayswas on severaloccasionsmen-
important event inthe definition ofhis tioned Tafurias fundamental to hisintellectual
critical tohistory. Itisimpor- by forma-
approach
tanttonote that atthat time Tafuri was tion.16 The themeof thebookwas therelationship between
very reluctant totalk about hisearly intellectual
work andearlier references, yet he culture, work,and capitalistdevelopment.
would stillencourage students toread Fortinianalyzedthisrelationship whathe
Fortini's "Astuticome Colombe." byquestioning
definedas theproblemof the"intellectual's mandate"- that
is, how theroleof intellectual workwas determined byclass
conflictin capitalistdevelopment. According to Fortini,
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 withinadvancedcapitalism,themandateofprogressive
intellectuals couldno longerbe definedbythethemeof anti-
fascism.In otherwords,thecriticalfunctionof intellectuals
couldnotbejustifiedbya critiqueof thedirectrepression of
freedom.The intellectualsroleno longerinvolvedadvanc-
ingtheproblemof thefreedomof speech,butratherin
addressingtheproblemof intellectual freedomas a new ide-
ologicalformwithintherealityof capitalistdevelopment.
The mostfamousessayin theanthology, "Astuticome
colombe"("Cunningas Doves"), focusedon thecritiqueof
culturalideologyas thelatterwas producedbyprogressive
"Astuti
17.Fortini, come in
colombe," culture.17 ItsmainthesisnotonlycondensedtheItalian
dei
Verifica ,68-88.
poteri debateabouttheroleof intellectual workwithincapitalist
development but also provided Tafuri thecriticalblueprint
forhiscritiqueof architectural ideology."Astuticome
Colombe"was originally publishedin 1962in thecultural
II
journal Menabò, directed byItalo Calvinoand Elio
Vittorini, in an issuedevotedto thethemeof cultureand
industrialwork.The issuealso featuredessaysbyCalvino
and UmbertoEco, amongothers.For theseleftists and "pro-
the
gressive"intellectuals, factory became the new cultural
epicenterof literaryand artisticexperimental practices.This
new sensibility, whichmixedsocialistreformism and artistic
experimentation, gaveimpetus to the avant-garderevivalin
Italy,themostimportant manifestation ofwhichwas Eco's
Gruppo6?.Avant-garde techniquessuchas collage,estrange-
ment, and technological experimentation becamedevices
through which the members of Gruppo63attempted to sub-
limatetheeffects of industrialization on socialrelationships.
Fortinidirectedhiscritiqueat thisideologicaluse of cultural
experimentation in orderto mediate(and mystify) the
effects ofproductionon bothsociety and intellectual work.
The twopolesthatdefinedFortinescritiquewerean analysis
of thepoliticaleconomyof intellectual workand an analysis
of itsaestheticmanifestation. Fortiniusedpoliticaleconomy
as a toolto describetheway capitalistaffirmation within
societymanifested itselfthroughsystematic culturalself-
For
deception. him, thisself-deception was often achievedby
capitalism's instrumentalization of a and
progressive socially
committed culture.The use of theaestheticwas a way to
trustartworksnotonlyas theproductsof an authorbutalso
as artifacts thatrevealedin theconcreteness of theobjectthe
sensualfeaturesof capitalistintegration. Drawingon politi-
cal economyand aesthetics, Fortini constructed a critique
thatwas neitheraimedat a rationalreformof capitalist
development norat a romanticresistanceto theeffects of
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 suchdevelopment. His mainobjectivewas to demonstrate
how capitalistdevelopment was thesourceof a numberof
ideological manifestations that notso muchrepresented
bourgeoispoweras satisfied thegood conscienceofprogres-
siveintellectuals. Facing such an extremelevelof cultural
mystification, in which modernization was reformism and
reformism was thenew progressive faceof capitalistdomi-
nation,Fortini'sconceptionof beingcriticalinvolved
-
becoming"cunningas dovesand innocentas foxes" thatis,
to constantly adjustthetermsof criticism to thestandardof
thecunningof capitalistideologyand notto surrender to the
easy narcissism of good intentions typicalof reformist
approaches.Moreover,forFortiniitwas preciselya critical
analysisof theseemingly mostgenuineattempts of social
reformadvancedbyleftist movements and institutions that
oftenrevealedthetruefeaturesof capitalistdomination.
Tafuri'scritiqueofideologytookformfromtheseprem-
ises.Beforeitwouldbe appliedtointellectual workin general,
Tafuri'scritique,as formulated in his1968bookTeoriee sto-
ria dell'architettura, focusedon theway "theories"of archi-
tectureattempted to rendertheidea of modernity in terms
18.Manfredo Teorie
Tafuri, estoria ofprogress.™ His critiqueconsistedin showinghow sucha
dell'architettura
(Bari: 1968).
Laterza,
19.Ibid.,
161-94. historicalperspective was achievedbysystematically mask-
ing the very cause of such progress, meaning thecontinuous
stateof culturalcrisisprovokedbythedevelopment of mod-
ernculture.Tafurifirstappliedthecritiqueof ideologyto
thosetraditions withinhistoriography thathad deliberately
to
attempted justify modern and contemporary architecture
on thebasisof itsreformist originand historicalmandate.
Tafuriespeciallyreferred towhathe definedas "operative
history," a kindof historywrittenwiththespecific, ideolog-
ical goal to legitimizethetraditionof modernarchitecture.19
Amongtheprotagonists of operativehistory, Tafuriplaced
almostall themajorhistoriansof modernarchitecture,
includingNikolausPevsner,SigfriedGiedion,and Bruno
Zevi. In thecontextof thecritiqueof reformism elaborated
by Panzieri and Fortini,it is clear thatthe object TafurPs
of
critique was not so much (or not only) the historicaldefor-
mationsmadebythesehistorians in orderto fitarchitectural
historyintomodernarchitects' agendas.WhatTafurireally
criticizedwas theideologyof reformism implicitin opera-
tivehistory, itspretension to solvethecontradictions left
openby the past toward a coherent for
agenda thefuture.By
instrumentalizing historyas a sourceof legitimacy, operative
historywas notonlyreconfiguring thepastto suitpresent
conditions, butalso separating historicaldevelopments from
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 theirrelatedcontradictions and crises.By editingout these
contradictions, operativehistoryhelpedto renderas almost
naturalthepoliticalforcesthatshapedhistoricalprocesses.
ThoughTafuri'sinitialcritiqueofoperative historywas nota
classcritique,theradicalantireformism emerging fromhis
bookTheories andHistory led Operaistintellectualssuchas
AlbertoAsorRosa and MassimoCacciarito inviteTafurito
contribute to theirjournalContropiano. Tafuri'scontribution
coincidedwiththesecondyearof his tenureat theIXJAV
(IstitutoUniversitariodi Architetturadi Venezia),and his
contribution to Contropianowas expectedto definethe
approach of his newly founded Istitutodi Storiaand thepos-
of
sibility the anti-reformistcritiqueof ideologywithinthe
disciplineof architectureand urbanplanning.

Intellectual Workand Capitalist Development

The MarxistjournalContropiano , publishedbetween1968and
20.The"critiqueofideology" wasrein- 1971,was conceivedbyitseditorsas thesuccessorto the
troducedandreformulated inthe1960s
byMario Trontiasacritique notsomuch OperaistjournalClasseOperaia.In comparisonto theearlier
ofcapitalism
perse,but asa critique of was moreessayistic and lessdevotedto
theway theworking-class movement journal,Contropiano
itself
wasoftentheembodiment ofvalues direct politicalintervention. Its editors soughtto construct a
dictated
bycapitalist The
development. working-class culturebyengagingwiththemostadvanced
ofideology
critique must beunderstood
asa critique
ofthe leftitself.Tafuriclari- themesof thestruggle, suchas thecritiqueof socialist
fiedthis
useofthe notion ofa critiqueof reformism.
ideologywhen hewrote: "For us[a]cri- According theeditors(who, forthefirstissues,
to
tiqueofideology
wasacritique ofthe left. includedAntonioNegri), themostadvancedlevelof class
Myown programwastodevelop a cri-
tiqueofthe thought
ideological thathas strugglewas whattheycalledthe"cunningof ideology,"
pervadedarchitectural
history, arthistory,whichtheysaw as thesubtleand self-deceptive culturalmeans
andhistoryingeneral.. . . Oneshould insinuated itself into theinstitu-
addressthe ofideology through which capitalism
always critique
towardshisorher own ideology, not the tionsof theworking-class movement.20 Yetthisradicalcri-
ideologyofhisorher enemy. What needs
tobede-ideologizedisprecisely the of
cul- tique ideology was intended to be not an endin itselfbut
turalcontext
for which onefights." the - the -
Manfredo "LaStoria
Tafuri, come
to a
premise politicalcounterplan Contropianoto
prog- the would
Interview
etto," byLuisa Passerinifor plan of thecapital.For theeditorsthecounterplan
theArt Documentation
History Project consistin theworking-class of themost
(LosAngeles:TheGetty Center forthe appropriation
HistoryofArtand Humanities, 4-4
1993]), advanced bourgeois culture within modernity, especiallythe
(my Foranedited
translation). version intellectual tradition that Cacciari defined as
ofthis seeLuisa
interview, Passerini, bourgeois
"HistoryasProject,"
ANYlj/lò, Being "negativethought."21 For Cacciari, the tradition of negative
Manfredo (2000).
Tafuri Theinterview consisted in a line that ran the work of
tookplaceinRome inFebruary-March thought through
1992.Forageneralunderstanding of the thinkers such as Friedrich Nietzsche and Max Weber.
conceptofthecritiqueofideology asit showedhow bourgeois
wasdeveloped the
by Operaists, see Accordingto Cacciari,thesethinkers
Mario Tronti,
Operaie capitale(Turin: mentality had alreadyacceptedtheunresolvablecrisisofval-
Einaudi,1966). ues broughton bythedevelopment of modernity
21.Massimo "Sulla
Cacciari, genesidel (and capi-
pensiero Contropiano
negativo," 1(1969): talism),and madeof that not a
131-201. acceptance passiveposition
butan effective mil topowerovercapitalistdevelopment
itself.For theeditorsof Contropiano , whatwas to be donewas
a reinvention of sucha formofpower- thenegative
- politicalculture.This inevitably
thought as working-class
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 meantan extremecritiqueof leftist cultureitselfand espe-
cially of how leftist
progressive resistanceto and reformof
had
capitalism inevitably fallen intothe hands of thecapital-
istsas themosteffective weaponsof dominanceoverthe
22.This negativetraditionisinmany workingclass.22 It is precisely withinthiscontextthatTafuri
ways relatedtothe middle passage
nihilism constructed his critique of architectural ideology.If Fortini
through prophesized by
Nietzscheenroute toa transvaluation
of showedTafurihow to resistthetemptation of reformism,
values.Butitisalsonotably negative, theeditorial
andrequires itsown eventual negation. of
project Contropiano providedTafuriwiththe
23.Itisnever ifthese
clear "avant-garde" termsin whichantireformism couldbe translated backinto
movements aresimply orin
appropriated
factpresageanother maneuver bycapital a class critique.Within this context, Tafuri wrote "Towarda
onitspath offurther and
appropriation ofArchitectural with the aim of
subjugation.Interms oftechnological Critique Ideology" tracing
avant-gardes,itisalways a case
ofthe theideologicalconnotations of theoriginof modernarchi-
Interms
latter. offorms ofsubjectiviza- tecture.Accordingto Tafuri,modernarchitecture, and espe-
tion,itisnotsoclear.
ciallyitsavant-gardemoments,couldhavebeendescribedas
theideologicalpréfigurations of theupcomingeffects of cap-
italistdevelopment. In so doing,modernist architectural cul-
turehad a definitive rolein naturalizing theseeffects and
making them socially and culturallyacceptable.2*
The morearchitectural cultureraisedthebarof radical
experimentation, the more its culturalattributes contributed
to thefollowingcycleof capitalistdevelopment. Thiswas
and remainstheviciouscircle.Andyetoncea cycleof exper-
imentation was surpassedbya newercycleof development,
thenitsarchitectural and urbanproductswereleftbehindas
"formwithoututopia"- thatis, a formdevoidof any
reformist urgency.This was particularly truein "technologi-
cal" advancesin materialsand systems, theenginedriving
Fordism,and whatlaterbecamean excuseforinnovation.In
thislatterstage,accordingto Tafuri,architecture was simply
a uselessobjectforcapitalistdevelopment, and notevenits
"utopian"ideologicalweapon.Fromhisanalysis,Tafuricon-
cludedthatin termsof classstruggleitwas uselesstowork
on newerprojectsand plans.Whatwas neededinsteadwas to
radicallyrethinktheroleof thearchitectand theplanneras
an intellectual "worker. Thiswas intendedto shiftthecritique
of ideologyfromthearchitectural and urbanprojectto the
formof intellectual workitself.In "IntellectualWorkand
CapitalistDevelopment," publisheda fewmonthsafter
"Towarda CritiqueofArchitectural Ideology,"Tafuri
to the of
attempted expand critique ideologyat thislevelof
analysis.He arguedthatin orderto go beyondtheideological
understanding of intellectual work,itwas necessaryto
definethelinkbetweenthecyclesof capitalistdevelopment,
theeconomicreorganization thateach cycleimposedon the
divisionof labor,and theideologicalmediationsproducedby
intellectuals.For Tafuri,themostcrucialmediationpro-
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 ducedbyintellectuals in thefirsthalfof the20thcentury
elaboratedtheestablished middle-classacceptanceof the
fundamentally irrationalform of capitalistdevelopment. If
socialismand reformism obstinatelymaintainedtheintrinsic
of
rationality capitalism(once under thegovernanceofpro-
gressivepolitics), themost advanced bourgeoistheorists,
suchasJohnMaynardKeynes,understoodthattheonlyway
to governcapitalismwas to makeitsfundamental irrational-
ityproductive. This potentiallyproductiveirrationality was
theworkingclass'srebelliousinitiative, which,byconstantly
threatening capitalism,forced capitalismto readaptand
adjust itsterms of organization.Facingsucha dynamic
process, especiallyafterthegreatcrisisof 1929,capital-
and
istsunderstoodthateconomicdevelopment was notonlya
matterof scientific management, but also of politicalinitia-
tive- thatis, themil topoweroverdevelopment itself.For
Tafuri,intellectuals suchas Weber,Keynes,and Peter
Schumpeter understood thatthewill to powerovercapitalist
development engaged positivesideof capitalism(eco-
the
nomicdevelopment), together withthenegativeside(class
struggle),byacceptingthenegativeforcenotas a collateral
effect of development butas itsmostpowerfultrigger.
For Tafuri,thisproductive way of dealingwithcrisis
was the most remarkable achievement of bourgeoisthought
becauseitwas no longerbasedon idealism,buton theprin-
cipleof crisisused as a dynamicmeansfordevelopment and
power.Following Cacciari's model of negativethought,
Tafuriidentified Weber'svalue crisisas thecoreof modern
politicsand themosteffective answerto theconsequencesof
capitalistdevelopment. ThroughtheexampleofWeber,
Tafuriclaimedthatwithinthepermanent culturaland polit-
ical instability
provokedbycapitalism, intellectual work
couldonlysurvivebyrejectinganya priori(and thusideo-
logical)position,acceptingtheradicalde-sacralization of its
statusand meansofproduction.It is forthisreasonthat
thosein thefieldof architecture who readTafurioutside of
thespecificculturaland politicalprojectin whichhe formu-
latedhis critiqueof ideologyconcludedthatTafuri's analysis
couldonlylead to a "deathof architecture." Byrecontextu-
alizingTafuri'scritique(and byunderstanding thatitwas
carriedoutwithina projectwherethepossiblerelationships
betweenculturaldisciplinesand classstrugglewereat stake,
notthearchitectural disciplineitself),it is possibleto under-
standhow theconclusionthatarchitectural criticsreached
aboutTafuri'scriticalprojectwas wrong(or at leastprema-
ture).Actually, thepassionateprecisionwithinwhichhe
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 attempted to cometo termswiththeproblemof intellectual
workwithincapitalistdevelopment showedthatthetaskfor
intellectuals, and for "architects as intellectual workers,"
was veryclear.Accordingto Tafuri,whatwas neededwas to
seriously(re)historicizetheprocessesand formsthrough
whichthecontentof intellectual workwas alwaysstruc-
turally linked with the conditions posedbytheevolutionof
possiblepoliticaleconomies.Moreover,in lightof this
understanding ofTafuri'shistoricalproject,it becomesclear
how his interest in theRenaissancewas notat all a "retreat"
fromcontemporary history, as manyarchitectural historians
maintain,buta searchfortheoriginof thestrategic links
betweenthepracticeof architecture as intellectual workand
thedevelopment ofpowerstructures thatwould providethe
24.This isevident inthe of culturalbasisforcapitalistdevelopment.24
introduction
hislastbook. SeeManfredo "A
Tafuri, For thisreason,Tafuri,likeFortini,saw in theactivity
Search for Paradigms: Project,Truth,
Artifices,"inInterpreting theRenaissance:of historical inquiry(whichtheavant-gardes alwaysrejected
Princes, Architects
Cities, ,trans.Daniel tool
Sherer (New Haven: Yale as a precondition of theirprojects) the most powerful
University
Press,2006). This essay canbeassumed forinterrogating theeffects of capitalistdevelopment on
tobethe summa ofallTafuri' swork on
history,andmakes clear
that,though intellectualagency.To historicizeintellectual mentalities
freeofany "operative" his
pretentions, meantthatthepoliticalsiteof struggle was the intellectual
interestinthe Renaissance wasalso
motivated bythe urgency the workitselfin termsof itsqualifications,
toclarify itswaysof being
originsofcontemporary problems. specialized,and theway,at everycycleofproduction,
Moreover, itisimportant tostress
that capi-
Tafuri'sinterestinthe Renaissancewas talismalwaysdefineda new mandateforthesocialroleof
present throughout hiscareer.This
is For Tafuri,suchan analysiswas supposedto
demonstrated bymany essaysonthesub- intellectuals.
jectandbybooks published as as
early provide nonideologicalformof understanding
a thepossibil-
the1960s onsubjects such asarchitectureities for action. In this sense it is to
inthe ageofhumanism, mannerist (intellectual) interesting
architecture,and the of
architecture notehow,today,Tafuri's reflections come unexpectedly (and
Jacopo Sansovino - books thathaveoften
been overlooked inanalyses ofTafuri's paradoxically)very close to,on the one hand, the neo-liberal
work. SeeManfredo Tafuri,
L'Architettura '
dellumanesimo (Bari: sloganssuchas "creativework"and "creativeclass,"and,on
Laterza, 1969); L'Architetturadel the other,to thepost-Operaist discussionsaboutcognitive
Manierismo nelCinquecento europeo workas thecenterofpost-Fordist modesofproduction. But
(Roma: Officina Edizioni, 1966);
Jacopo whilethese
Sansovino el'architetturadelCincjuencento positionscompletely absorbed the productive
a Venezia (Padua: Marsilio, 1969). statusof knowledge,Tafurifocusedattentionon thepressure
pointsin intellectual culturewithincapitalistdevelopment.
This problematization was so radicalthatwe mightconclude
thatthetrueaim ofTafuri'scritiquewas notso muchthatof
themil topower,in thetraditional formofpartypolitics
(which, in the end,remained goal of theeditorsof
the
Contropiano ), butmorea mil tounderstand , a will to deeply
disentangle the historicalprocessesthroughwhichintellec-
tual subjectivity was made.ButTafurialso used thewillto
understand as theantidoteto thearchitect's and thecritic's
narcissismofgoodintentions, notonlyin thearchitectural
"boudoir,"butalso in thesocialactivismof so-calledpro-
- -
gressivearchitects manypresenttoday who in fighting
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 theworldneverquestionthemandateof theiractions.Above
all, thiswilltounderstand , whichTafurineverexpectedto be
was
satisfied, only used as a triggerforhisresearch,and it
was implicitly aimedat whatFortiniwould havecalledthe
recuperation thetotality
of of theintellect,
or,in other
the of the
words, possibility transgressing disciplinary spe-
cializationsand expertiseimposedbythepoliticaleconomy
of neo-capitalist workand production. Tafuridemonstrated
thistransgression notin directstatements aboutinterdisci-
or
plinarity transdisciplinarity (two formsof intellectual
workthathe would haveseenas themostadvancedformsof
ideologicalmystification withinwhichcapitalism administers
culturalproduction)butbythewidespectrum ofhisanalyses,
whichcombinedpolitics,aesthetics, politicaleconomy,and
architecture intoone criticalprojectaimed at definingthe
totalityof his Berufas intellectual.

PierVittorio
Aureli
isanarchi-
tect.Heisco-founderofthe
COLLECTIVE
DOGMA/OFFICEAND
TEACHESATTHEBERLAGEINSTITUTE
inRotterdam.
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