Pier Vitorio Aureli expresses that absolute architecture is simply an island within the city; it is–in reference to the “Autonomia” concept of autonomy–separated from, but certainly not free from, the city. Aureli’s concept emphasizes this sense of separation as a framework for opposition within the city. Through this opposition, architecture explicates its political, democratic dimension. Autonomous architecture thus fundamentally embodies agonism and through this unfolds its ultimate purpose: to accommodate and–at the same time–to govern differences.
