Which 'humanism'?: On the Italian theory of architecture, 1951-1969

This contribution focuses on the possibility of isolating an Italian theory of architecture in the postwar period until 1969, taking the controversy over Renaissance proportions as a case study. Rather than defining a specific approach to the subject from Italian authors compared to their international colleagues, this contribution explores the specificity of Italian humanism and the significance of that experience from the point of view of the postwar reconstruction. The study of Renaissance architecture, rather than offering a historical precedent for the construction of national identities, warded off that possibility, constituting a problematic beginning for European modernity.