Sitting on the Shrink Couch

Doctoral studies in Italy are slowly coming of age (schools are now selecting the candidates for the 40th PhD yearly cycle). For a discipline marked by a blurred identity like architectural design, they provided a protected environment for self-reflection, which eventually produced a widespread recognition of its basic helplessness. This short text rapidly traces the shift of architectural disciplinary self-consciousness from narcissism (or disciplinary autonomy) to dissociation.