In Italian culture in the second half of the twentieth century, Giovanni Klaus Koenig (1924–1989) stood out as an original figure: historian, theorist and critic of architecture and design, semiologist, passionate teacher, cinema expert and technician, designer of buildings and means of transport. Ironic and amiably controversial, Koenig navigated the various fields of knowledge related to design on all scales, continuously intertwining methodologies and outcomes, and experimenting with innovative approaches to critical inquiry: his pioneering studies on the linguistic analysis of architecture are a prime example. His revolutionary teaching was crucial to the formation of radical architecture groups such as Superstudio