The book brings together the theoretical foundations and teaching experiences of two complementary courses, Morphologies. The Form of Cities and From Painting to Understanding: An Overview on European Urban Spaces, taught by Marco Trisciuoglio and his research unit within the PhD Programme in Architecture. History and Project at Politecnico di Torino and in lectures' series at Southeast University in Nanjing. Both courses share a common ambition: to explore how cities take form, change over time, and can be interpreted through different modes of representation.
The volume is articulated in two parts. Mapping examines ten cities through ten key maps, introducing major figures, methods, and questions in urban morphology, ranging from archaeological surveys to typological analyses, from perceptual approaches to contemporary interpretations of urban form. Painting shifts the focus to images, showing how paintings, engravings, photographs, comics and movies illuminate the cultural, symbolic, and experiential dimensions of urban space. Together, the two sections outline a multifaceted way of reading the city that bridges analytical rigor and visual interpretation.
The contribution of the PhD candidates is crucial to the book. Their drawings, commentaries, and critical counterpoints accompany each lecture, forming a continuous dialogue between teaching and research.
Designed both as an introduction and as an invitation, the book encourages readers to approach urban form with curiosity and analytical precision, learning to navigate the interplay between representation, history, and the lived experience of the city. The counterpoints between morphology and transition that close the book further underline these aspects.