Planning with images: Tange Kenzō’s Bologna in a transnational perspective

Considering Italy as a transnational laboratory in which, for over three decades, Tange Kenzō’s approach to architecture and planning was tested across local institutions, political actors, social dynamics and historically layered urban contexts, this paper re-examines the Bologna 84 project through original archival materials. It argues that images – understood not merely as representations but as emotionally charged and operative tools in the design and communication process – played a strategic role in articulating architectural and urban planning proposals, orienting public opinion and fostering political consensus. Within this framework, the paper shows how projects such as the unbuilt Circus and the realized Fiera District mobilized symbolic forms and historical references to mediate between technological ambition and collective anxieties surrounding identity, participation and urban transformation. By situating Tange within broader debates on ‘anxious modernisms’, the paper reframes his Italian work in affective terms and contributes to discussions on the role of the architect-planner, highlighting how communities became emotionally engaged in and entangled with processes of large-scale urban transformation in the post-war decades.