The Urban Fact examines Rossi’s formulation of a theory of the city, developed over the period of roughly ten years, from Architecture of the City published in 1966, to Analogous City exhibited in 1976. Rossi’s theory is not taken as an abstract argument but is seen through his work from that period. A careful selection of twenty-three projects is here presented at face value. These projects, bound by the reality of their setting, but also charged with cultural and civic ambition, illustrate the intricacy of an architectural project as a complex whole. They also demonstrate how architecture could contribute to the changing urban context of the field, hinting at architectural work painfully aware of its limitations and stubborn in its intentions.

Kersten Geers graduated in architecture and urbanism at the University of Ghent and at the ETSA Madrid. Together with David Van Severen he is the founding partner of OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen. Geers has been teaching at various institutions, such as the Berlage Institute, Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP), Yale School of Architecture, and EPF Lausanne. He currently holds a professorship at the Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio, and the Kenzo Tange chair at Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD). He is a founding member of the architecture magazine San Rocco.

Stefano Graziani is an artist and photographer, with a degree in architecture from the University IUAV of Venice. Graziani teaches at the Fondazione Fotografia in Modena, at Naba in Milan and at the University of Trieste. He collaborates with several magazines and publishers and is cofounder of the magazines San Rocco and Genda. He has exhibited in Italy and abroad and his works are part of private and public collections, including Maxxi Rome, CCA Montreal, Iccd Rome and Photography Foundation in Modena.

Joris Kritis studied graphic design at Sint-Lucas Ghent and was a participant of the Werkplaats Typografie between 2006 and 2008. In 2013 he started his own office in Brussels. He has been teaching in the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam between 2011–13, and has given workshops in Belgium, The Netherlands, Aruba, South Korea, and Estonia.

Jelena Pancevac graduated in architecture at the University of Belgrade. Since 2013 she has been working as a research and teaching assistant in the studios led by Geers, at the EPF Lausanne, Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation (GSAPP), Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD), and currently at the Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio.