Prestinenza Puglisi on architecture's multiple interpretations

Luigi Prestinenza Puglisi argues that architectural meaning is never fixed but emerges from a web of historical references, authorial intent, and critical bias. Using Michelangelo's Laurentian Library and Rem Koolhaas's Villa dall'Ava as case studies, he shows how the same building can be read through different lenses—formal, symbolic, functional, or political. He warns that interpretations are shaped by preconceptions, such as the romantic myth of Michelangelo or Koolhaas's self-narratives. Puglisi identifies three key tools for constructing contemporary architectural history: books (e.g., Le Corbusier's Vers une architecture, Venturi's Complexity and Contradiction), exhibitions (e.g., 1932 International Style, 1988 Deconstructivist Architecture), and magazines (e.g., Casabella, Domus), each with their own gatekeeping biases. He insists that context is crucial: a square may be decorative in Josef Hoffmann, symbolically charged in a Renaissance church, or functional in a car design. He critiques architects' self-mythologizing—Wright predated drawings, Mies downplayed Lilly Reich's role, Le Corbusier courted dictators—and argues that biographies are essential to see beyond propaganda. Ultimately, Puglisi concludes that there is no single correct interpretation; history is a competition of narratives written by both winners and losers, and understanding architecture requires traversing its diverse paths without imposing universal criteria.