Theory
Architectural Typology
Explore in the Atlas →The theory that buildings can be classified into recurring formal and organisational types, and that these types embody collective cultural memory and persist as the deep structure underlying urban form. Revived by Aldo Rossi from Quatremère de Quincy's Enlightenment distinction between the imitable model and the generative type.
Settlement Memory Production
Details
- Introduced
- 1960s
Classifications
- Holder
- Individual
- Source of authority
- Reason
- Subject
- Human centred
- Degree of codification
- Pattern based
- Mode of transmission
- Text drawing
- Knowledge type
- Propositional
- Epistemic cluster
- Western philosophical
Connections
- relates to Parti
Referenced by
- Antoine Quatremère de Quincy proposed
- Aldo Rossi proposed
- Précis des leçons d'architecture données à l'École polytechnique articulates
- Proportion (as architectural theory hub) relates to
Sources
- Aldo Rossi. L'architettura della città (The Architecture of the City). Marsilio, 1966.
- Antoine-Chrysostome Quatremère de Quincy. Encyclopédie méthodique: Architecture, vol. 3 ('Type'). Panckoucke, 1825.
Cite this entry
First published May 2026Last revised Jul 2026
CLAD. "Architectural Typology." Atlas of Architectural Thought. CLAD, 2026. https://www.cl-ad.com.au/research/atlas/theory/architectural-typology/. Accessed July 17, 2026.