California Italian Studies

The essay examines a set of visual critiques created by the Florentines and known as discorsi per immagini. Developed by the experimentalist groups Superstudio and Archizoom from 1968 to 1973, discorsi per immagini emphasized modernist urban planning’s co-opted position within Italian riformismo and aimed to replace it with critical cultural work achieved by a growing visual territory composed of print, critical objects, and design exhibitions. The article takes stock of the political, formal, and technical shifts offered by discorsi per immagini to assess the powers and limitations of Italian experimental architecture, and to speculate on its remaining relevance and possible futures.