Aldo Rossi is one of the most influential Italian architects of the second half of the 20th century. After graduating from the Polytechnic of Milan with Piero Portaluppi, his professional activity began with Gardella and Zanuso. Through a severe language of primary forms and geometric motifs he created some of the most famous works of architecture and design of his time. Among the numerous awards received, he was the first Italian to win the Pritzker Prize in 1990. Honorary member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters in New York, in 1996 he received the Special Culture Award for the Architecture and Design sector from the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.