Operative differences: Eisenman, Tafuri and the lesson of Piranesi

Peter Eisenman is an architect. His field of action, although related to a multiform set of interests, is the investigation of the theoretical foundation of the architectural discipline. Architecture, as an artefact as well as a project, can be seen as the most evident representation of the traditional opposition of Western metaphysics: absence and presence. The task of the architect, according to Eisenman, is therefore to intervene analytically in this dialectical condition and make it operable. From this point of view, Eisenman's approach to the discipline - as well as his entire, lifelong architectural journey - is observed in the light of the work of Giovanni Battista Piranesi. Going beyond the critique made by the Italian architecture historian Manfredo Tafuri, Eisenman explored the possibility of a new interpretation of the dialectic between positive and negative, electing the notion of ground as the very place of this opposition. The Berlin Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe offers the final representation of this dialectic, opening it to a further, unparalleled working field.