Some time qo, 1eYsal colleagues and I were

dilcu....,, die lntereltl one bad In urban detip and

what mlgbt be thought of u the speculative nature
of urban intawntion. One member of the group,
the Italian architect Peiro Sartogo, had recently
been aked to propote a theme for an urban exhibi-
tion to be beJd In Rome. In tblnldng about what
kind of arddtectural lnvesdption nUgbt be appro-
priate for mdl an exhibition, we were talking about
various historical plans of Rome and the different
biaa that each repretents in our perception of the
development of that particular city.
Being aware of the succeuion of plam of Rome
MICHAELG
ED
u pablilhed by Frutaz, 1 had UWl)'I felt that thole
deweloped by Giovanni Battilta Nolli contained
within them an urban life and Yltality dacribed
tbroqb rather forthdaht graphic psturn, (1). Our
C01Mttion penlstec! relative to Nolli' bJlm in 1
plan delcrlption. I have, In utldel and ltcbuel rely on the walll of their enclolive aurfacel for
such u 'f'rqmentl', delCdbed the vllue of the their wban comp:rehmaibility, (2).
fiaure mlde In the voida of the arban laadnpe by Imagine for a moment one1 reprd for the plan
virtue of the enclolive gelture of the IUm>UDdillg If NoUi to draw the '*1 from the roof
bulldlnp. Oae might dClcribe this phenomenon u rather than Medon dlrougli the glOua4 floor
a Ogunl void. The NoW plan la lntereltina becaUle p he did. NolU"I deacriptioa eaptuat1 more
it recordl that 18880 of f"JgUtal voJd not only In the accurately, I think, tbe relatlon9'dps of piau to
public: domain, such u the plazr.e, bat allo the tbnlbold to lalerna1 pablc rooa wldl a ... of
1emf.public coadidolll of the mflor pieolll of mchl- mtUtJlle or promeaacle that wout. be u..-.1e
tecture In the city. He WU interested. It ...... In utlng other papbic If
delCribing not only the plan/sarface relatlonlblp of Noll had included the pdqf.e U.. u other
street and 1quare but lllO the amblpltfea held In than a IOCOndarJ '10ndllioa of pochi. oae
the pound plane by virtue of one ,..... from llaft 1'eela wble to --tM .._..,of
the public atemal encloMe to the enclOlh<t..,.. eoelolDse to the extent daat Ids ,._ .,.._
turea of pubUc rooms 'WJtbln tile buUdtap diem- reaultlng homopneoua ,.ttera __. ildirlll*
..... (2). diltlncdollt betweea pubic an4 friftla .....
In contrast to a medieval plan which would Nollrs rendering ort8tb-centu:ry Rome contains
make more discrete 1eparations between inllde not onlY a plan bias, u delCribed abo'9. but also a
and outllde. (J), or a 20tlHeatury lcheme such u papbic tecbnlque wbtl:h al'lo'Wl. n1m1-
Le Corb19f1 Palllt du Ceaaotoyua wldda de- conception tbroup ......
ICdbtl a more condnuOUI relatiouldp ... tweea When one lllke4 te.,..
ln.w.-'out,(4). NoDra.,._... the,..... about tbe Glb".tld.Ul4111Gtl
of boa to tiea moNaocur,. OM ,... .. I
ate _,don with fe8Ud to owr plt1lerJll -Of or
wbaA putWpatlon. ollu ...., t In .. of
bla o of 1748,uclll ot4elorlpdoe
.....
0
juactmes or seams. Tboap it mJght be .....
without coordination, detelopment of the
leCtions by the participating arcbi1ecta WOlllll 1114
to unneceaary fragmentation, it is allo tne tllat
wban fragments en be ll!ell as eaen.tial to Nolli"I
conception. If one wae to compare Piraaai 1
Campo Marzio, (6), with NolU's plan, one is made
awipe of the cxtnme differeoces between thee
two politiom: one Is a compolition of mutually
adjusted set pieces, and the other involves the
mutual modiflcation or figure and ground, providing
a comprehensible equity between figural object
and figural space. What begins a a problematic
c:onclitlon of mutual adjustments between the frag-
mented tieetions of the NoDi plan as issued to each
of the 12 architects c:an be ued potitWdy by
UIQ!Ding that the city is one of mutually adjusted
(Jqmeatl, or adjacencies. modified to fit the
context, rather than set pieces in a field.
Indeed. Rome u it exists now can be seen u a
ales of quarten, mutullly adjusted to accommo-
date adjacencies, aad the temporal deftlopment of
thiNe qarms 11 geaeaa11y ftMlalecl by the .-
-t within thcml. lt ii carious in ma.
tile exbibitloli ideatiftes dlole ......,
attemptto*9ctalearbaa ......... llll'bllty
Oil dlltincdy dlft'eaent ..... Whtie ..,...
PJllfer ... axid flm>uP tile .....
patwa or a IOOIQOtl'lcal .,_, _... woUI
tile oppcMlite ID .tbOie kOUted \ltbaa
.......... s odlen might atconuaodaflt

area..,... to
.,.,....Lthe ftrietj Of iadMdual IOIDdl'm ....
I think, our current tendency to accept dhne
positions ,ad allow tbeit juxtaposition In a
__ .. of
l
ri.
Portoghesi presents an urban infill that appears
as a lyrical or naturalistic version of the tree-growth
urban patterns which are so characteristic of Team
X, and which are now acknowledged to be a-
contextual and a-spatial urban architectural
disasters. We are supposed to be convinced by a
series of drawings interpreted buildings as land-
scapes that buildings can be made to represent
landscapes literally. But urban landscapes are not
!Jucolic ones and urban spaces are not understood
.ls static photo images. The artistic technique i.s
Jnconvincing as the structureless scheme that It 1s
intended to justify.
presentation deals pictorially with the
;urrealist imagery that holds such allure for him
:nore than it deals with a projection of urban form
'>r life. The 'early industrial' feeling conveyed by
Rossi's images suggests a kinship with the presen-
tation of Leon Krier, but without Krier's under-
lying social programme.
Venturi abdicates responsibility by flogging a
near-dead horse. Las Vegas may indeed be to the
Strip what Rome is to the Piazza, but only as the
analogy is descriptive of both places. Otherwise the
logic is faulty. Venturi's mistake is in the considera-
tion of the two, Strip and Piazza, as qualitative
equals. Operating at an extreme, formulating
theory in suppo1 t of unpalatable facts (if indeed
they are facts), Venturi makes one wonder why he
is so reluctant, or so afraid, to effect positive
change.
Robert Krier shows a frightening array of
sombre, g:10stlikc pictures that are inaccP-ssible to
common understanding. They bear little relation to
the isolated plan frag;,1c .. i that he has so skilfully
and that is so suggestive of an activi! and
accommodating urhan Ii __
Piero Sartogo has wrought mindless destruction
and confusion in the guise of art. Using a technique
that might be called 'constructivist Haussmann ',
Sartogo overlooks or does not understand that
Haussmann created order and hierarchy by slicing
through the amorphous density of medieval Paris.
Sartogo's technique does just the reverse. He
attacks with violence and intellectual irrcverance
one of the clearest 'set pieces' of Rome, if not the
world, and creates chaos. The scheme seems to
plead for recognition as a great work of artistic
urban development. But, with such apparent mis-
understanding of constructivism, such complete
di regard for the clarity of urban form, and such a
misanthropic attitude toward institutions of
society (specifically The Church), it fails utterly.
With poetic mysticism, Antoine Grumbach has
invented 'reverse archaeology'. It is perhaps the
most difficult of all the projects to understand.
Grumbach's newly made subterranean antique
world sugj!csts that time is the ultimate measure;
that all urban developments. indeed all human
endeavour, will become eventually the uhjcct of
future archaeology.
Romaldo Giurgola has made a small city in the
image of the upper west side of Manhattan with all
the amenities of Ebenezer lloward' garden city.
With residences, office , factories and recreation all
within walking distance, and all appropriately
'greened', Giurgola's project is eminently believable
and would probably be a very successful urban
development. It is ironic that an expatriate Italian
would export urban America back to Rome a
curious reversal of the American preference for the
importation of things European. But it is difficult
to accept the ease of Giurgola's wholesale purchase
of _the gridiron of New York or Philadelphia as the
ultunate urban paradigm without further question
or speculation.
Leon Krier presents an attitude which seems .at
first presumptuous but which is ultimately pathet.1c.
Krier has created monuments of enormous
and scale, placed in locations of enormous promi-
nence and importance. This suggests an arrogant
imposition of his will upon Rome and upon the
monuments of history. But Krier's monuments also
suggest a social programme of populist
as they house, protect and provide accommodation
for the common people. Krier is a populist Sixtus
v. His project suggests both a romantic and a
pessimistic view as, in essence, he argues that to
make urban life palatable, indeed humane, we
must destroy, or at least obscure, the monuments
of history as we enact the will of an impossible
society.
James Stirling's self-described 'correction of the
Nolli plan of Rome' is quite skilfully made. It is a
mostly modernist plan that demonstrates most
clearly that Mr Stirling has built many buildings
and done many projects. In a paroxysm of self-
indulgence and with some attempt at wit, Stirling
distributes a score of his own projects about the
landscape. Employing antique Roman, 'grid-shift-
collision' planning in an artful manner, Stirling
demonstrates that this strategy, traditionally so
successful, is equally effective in the manipJla tion
of elements of modern architecture into a modern
urban fabric. The worst effects cf his megalomania
can br. seen at the Siemens crossing of thc Tiber
where Stirling suggests a connection to the real
fabric of Rome and in the process compromises the
Chiesa Nuovo and the Oratorio.
Michael Gra1es hopes for the world to be an
idyllic architectural public garden tempered by
intellectual sophistication and beneficent aware-
ness or the need for preservation of the rdics of
the past. With the suggestion of an urban grid at its
edges, the mundane world is all but suppressed in
favour of an image of a world where everyone is an
unoppressed member of the court at Versailles.
Graves's presentation seems purposefully ambiguous
as it compresses a variety of interpretations into a
single image by using an abstract purist drawing
technique in a sophisticated manner. The drawing
is variously and simultaneously plan, elevation.
section, axonometric, perspective, thick and dense,
thin and light. It is always elusive. The presenta-
tion introduces the important modern notion of
simultaneous multiple view and multiple meaning.
but Graves leaves the eye wondering and the mind
wandering about exactly what it is that he is trying
to accomplish. If size and scale can be taken as a
measure of interest and concern, then it is quite
apparent that Graves's preferences are for a world
of urban landscapes. In the context of the scale pf
Rome, however, his garden is too vast. \Vhat is
interesting, if also curious, about this presentation
is that while the thought processes and representa-
tion techniques arc thoroughly imbmd "ith the
theories of modernism simultancou. I} n1ulti-
visioned the images employed and created arc
traditional and reflect a clear classical preference.
Colin Rowe, et al, are clearly the noble t
Romans of them all. Their view extend and almost
replicates the density and character of urban
texture of the centre of Rome, including an e ten-
sion of the fortification walls and an updated
'rebuilding' of the Palatine hill, all with the regular-
ising influence of l8th- and l9th-century hench
planning. This view rejects all notions of modern
urban planning and, it seems, modern architecture
as well. Consequently this project calls directly
into question the continuing efficacy of modem
architecture, modem zoning and building laws, and
established modem huilding types. Despite its
unwillingness to recognise the existence of the last
century, the project is believable and, among all
the others, probably represents the most savoury
of urban worlds.
Conclusion
It is interesting to look at the new (197 8) map and
to imagine each proposal, in turn, spread out over
the entire 12, either as urban fabric type or as idea
whichever is appropriate to a particular scheme'
None of these propositions is wholly satisfying;
some are indeed frightening. It is evident that
Roma lnterrotta has not produced a new urban-
ism. In fact, insofar as these projects do not
present visions of a possible better world, they all
reflect an elemcn t of despair.
Looking among the 12 for ideas of urbanistic
value, the eye returns repeatedly to the projects of
Rowe, Stirling, Giurgola and Graves. Although
Rowe and Stirling present two different kinds of
urban worlds, they share a kinship of plan organisa-
tion; both employ collisions of grids and juxta-
positions of geometrically clear urban elements.
Rowe offers a city of spatial hierarchies, of streets.
boulevards :rnd squares, of clearly defined public
spaces. of potentially identifiable neighbourhoods
in a wholly traditional plan. Stirling presents a city
of spatial neutrality, characterised by the spatial
of modern urbanism. although far
better t)1an most. Stirling also represents for the
entire enterprise an underlying conscience of
modernity. lest we forget where we are. Giurgola
relics upon the sanity and sobriety and all the
other genuine benefits of an elaborated gii<lirun
plan. Graves. in addition to the idea of urban land-
scape. introduces the kind of multiplicity and com-
plcx.t \ of vision that is necessary for any rich and
realistic modern urbanism.
What can be learned from Roma lntermtta? It
is clear that presently, at a time of wide ranging
personal preferences and differing attitudes about
architecture, there is no agreement or consistent
belief about how cities ought to be made. It is also
dear that no individual view can satisfy our
requirements for a healthy, successful and stimula-
ting urban environment.
But this docs not mean that the exercise of
Roma !111crrott11 is valueless. To the i:ontrarr. it
impresses upon us that the requirements of cities,
indeed cities themselves, arc exceedingly comple'\.
It also encourages the view that cities are capable
uf sustaining and even supporting fragmentar}
intervention and that such intervention can provide
architectural clarilication. In fact it suggests that
cities arc resistant to a singular view no matter how
poetic, hu1111rnistic or that icw mil!ht be.
and that, generally, effective alterations be
small scale. incremental. contextually responsive.
culturally related, and probably slow in material-
ising and maturing.
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A premibe 11ue, 'Roma lnterrotta' semble une
entreprise discutable: un abondant deploiement
d'energies dediees d une a11enture denuee de sens
ou de 11aleur. Rome, apres tout .. a sujyj 'II 11.lPPIJ:
.... ........ ..
""' ... "'"

.. ..... ..
. .,..,.,, ,.,.,,"' ..
----.. ,,,.,.;ffW ,. l9761."1A!Jrl ....
..&.,,,.,,..,,,.,.,,,. "'. "'" ..
...... 111611,.... ,..,,. la "'1lllMUtlltb
ei d'"'1bonl11ott1. ,,.,._,.,d..,
po"" d'lll'Cltltectu diNl'I t!I "" OOOldolatb1
t-o-i-il "" /INlflllltlM1 En 1-14 t111 6t qufl1
IOld le letU Ill '- .-.,,. de taut cela 1
S'H 1'116/I d ll'OllllU """ ....,,. i 'Ro'*
lnterrotto', celtz dott It! rbwner o dr.wc TJOlllNltb
tn#pt1roble1 et inh'rente1 i l'uerctt: l+e"""-
ment, la pombU1te d'tl11t111c du lllaftllolu (JOll-
t1"ei et ayont trait 11 Iii nalUl'e du dlH/Oppeme11t
urbain - ce qu'il demzit lire, ce qu'll ndt pu
hre. Deuxihnement, Iii poaibllitl d """'""' da
comtMntaires et de1 hyTJOtlll#11 nu In ttructures
et inttuutiotU 10cialei apPll1'1tmllnt tJ M culture
contemporaine ou ,,.-e.
Pris sous cet lltf8/e, on ne pe&lt supfJOla 1111Cune
11Ulf1ension de l'histoue ou du temps, nulb ii f aut
plutot t'On1iderer la 11ille de Rome a11et: sa com-
fJ/exite et 111 longue histoire, teUe qu'eUe fut
dessinee par Giambatti11a Nolli en I 748, de11eflllnt
a/ors le 11M11cule d'un plan d'etudes urbaines
sbie11se1, sans rapport au temps. I e pro/et
'dlma"atll e11 1748 et la 11il/e choisie etanl Rome,
cec1 1111pl1que la recvm1a1ssance et pri1e en cvn
1idlration de l'histmre archllecturale et urhaine,
pou11ant renronter aun1 loin que l'antiquite. Du
/art que /'on JIOll mainleflllnt en 1978, ii est in
l1111able que toute recherche, tout pollulat d'une
condition urhaine, revelent des preferences llUr le
dt!11elopp,.,,wnt 11rhai11 < ontemporailr et le /JOl<'nttel
de l'arcllll<Ctun da11s le context urham II 11)'
a pa1 be1111/n de 'programme' en wi, Ii l.e hut de
reclrerches est de promou11oir la q1ttulation.
U11 tel programme, SI tant e1t qu'il puisse exister,
srratt 1111/HI thle d t!lahorer sa11s inev11ablc111ent
restreindre et mterdue (Quelques r'61e1 de base
donnant un po111t de con11ergence aux part/cipanll
daru un ieru g'neral, aura1ent ete souhaitahles). I e
/au de d1111ser la 11ille de fllfOn arhitrt1ire, comme le
fall le p/lln, at un moyen auez raiaonnable de
faclliter le morcelkmenl d partir d'attributioni, de
d fain fill/Ur des profealoM de foi.
II n 'o rate /NU moln1 que, /onque /'on regllJ'de
l'ettlillge da douze pl'Ojet1, l'ab#ntt apparente de
communictltion entre lei pa11/cipan11 nt durement
rementle Olrttllna /uJCltlpodtiolu .ant Ii dacor-
dlmtes .- l'on peut 1e demanda co"""ent In
,,.,,lc/ptlllti dont la p/upal't .aftl tJa COlllUtUtl
.. nllPOllh, n'ont p11
lficlltlon U COWS du fHO/el q11i d11111 pbu du M.
Une des consequences de cette absence de
coordination est le fail que l'on ne peut considerer
chaque presentation que de fafon isolee ou dons le
f;C>nlQU de J 'J. Jl 1t)' "

11 oe
,. ..
11n:hilectlmnlx, 11-contextutllUtes et a-1p11tiawc. On
e6I nqJpoli ltre con1111incu1 par de1 6'rie1 de
demn1, btterpritant lei ldiflce1 comme dei
111ymge1, que lei ldifice1 peu11ent ltre '1abore1
de /tlfOll tJ liltbalement reprtienter des paysages.
Mau lei Pll}'lllge1 urbains ne 10nt pas bucoliquei et
lei npaces urbain1 ne peuw:nt etre consideres
romme des Images photopaphiquei statiques. la
artiltique conlltlinc aussi peu que le
Pro/ aructurt qu'elle est mppollle justifier.
La preientation de Rossi tnzite, au moyen
d'ilbutmtio1U, l'imagerie 1U1Teali1te qui represente
un bttbit tout tJ fail penonnel bien plus qu 'une
p10/ection de Ill /omre ou 11ie urbaine. Le sentiment
de 'debut indunriel' communique par les images de
Roai iuaitt une parente a11ec Ill presentation de
Lion Krier, llllU toutefou le p10gramme 1acial de
Krier tJ Ill btue.
Venturi abdique toute responsabilite et se
depell# en pure pene. Las Vegas peut en effet
reprtienter au Strip ce que Rome represente tJ Ill
Piozu, mau ieulement en tant que l'analogie est
deicrlptt.e de1 dewc endroits. Sinon 111 logique est
fauale. L 'erreur de Venturi est le fail de con-
lei dewc, Strip et Piozza, en tant qu'egawc
qualitatift - tra11t1illant 4 l'extrtme, formulllnt
une thlorie pour appuyer des fai11 d'un gout
douteux r lant ell qu'il y ail de1 fails), on finit
par detn11nder pourquoi Venturi helite tant ou a
ri peurd'il/tttuer un changement politif.
Robert Krier deplore une serie effnzyante
d'image11ambres et 1pectrale1, ilUlccessibles au bon
se111. Elle1 n'ont qu'une rel111 lointaine a11ec
le fragment de pllln isole qu a d habilement
de11eloppl et qui sugglre si bien une fonne de 11ie
urbaine active et accomodcnte.
Piero Stutogo aboutit ri Ill de1truction et Ill con-
fusion in10Ucilln1e1 en guue d'art. Utllint une
technique que l'on pourrait appeler 'conllructi
1 isme 4 l'Hauamann', Stutogo 1emble oublier ou
ne pa1 comprendre qu'Hauamann 11 cree un ordre
et une hllrorchie dom Ill densile amorphe du
Paris mldll11t1l.
la technique de Sartogo aboutit eX11ctement d
''effet inrene. R attaque violemment et avec une
"e11erence toute intellectuelle une des 'donnee1'
'e1 plu1 clllire1 de Rome, 1i tt n 'ell du monde, et
1boutit ailUi au chao1. Le pro/et 1emble demander
ltre reconnu en tant qu'oeuvre d'art du develop-
urlN11n Mail, avec une incomprthelUion du
-on1truct1Pi6me ,; apparente, UM indi/flrence Ii
'por/llite 4 l'ltard de lo clm1' de lo tonne urbaine et
att/111/U Ii milonthroplque II 4 ril de1 iflltitu-
kHu 60d6la, (en l'oecurence, l'Elll#J celo aboutit
"" klrec total.
AH'c 10n myltfcisme polt/que, Antoine
Grumhodl 11 inNnt' l'ATChft>/olle in'HtW C'ell
,,rohablemeu le pro/et le plu1 di/flcl/e 4 com-
Ollndre. u monde ant111ue aoutemdn de
rumbadr, rkmunent c1'1, IU/ldre que le tempi
1H1llilue lWtinw me111tr et que tOflt dheloppe
mm1 """"11. IOllte ltu,,,.,.. dnilltdtrl
l'aisance avec laqueUe Giu1g0la acquiert en g10s
le terrain de New York et Philadelphie en tant que
paradigme urbain sans plu1 de que1tlon1 ou de
speculation.
Leon Krier adopte une attitude qui iemble ti
premere vue pre10mptueuse mail qui est ftnalement
pathetique. Krier a cree des mo numents d la
taille et echelle enormes, situes dans de1 emplace-
ments en evidence. Celll sugglre une imposition
arrogante de 111 volonte sur Rome et mr lei monu-
ments de l'histoire. Mail les monumenll de Krier
suggerent aussi un p10g1r1mme 10cial, atteignant le
1tade du populilme, du fail qu'iJs abritent,
protegent et /oumislent un logement aux gens.
cation, une 'reconstruction' mile d jour du Mont
Palatin, tout ceci sous /'influence regularnante de
la planification franfQile des Uf' et 19" siecki. Ce
point de vue rejette toute notion de planificatlon
urbaine modeme et, semble-t.iJ auai, de l'archi
lecture moderne. Par con#quent, ce projet met en
cause directement l'efficacite de /'architecture
moderne, de la repartition en zones moderne
1
et
des lots de conrtruction et der types de
modernes etablis. Malgre 111 mauvaise ti
reconnaitre /'existence du siecle paue. le pro/et
ell plausible et, parmi tous les autrer, represente
p10bablement le monde urbain le plu1 attirant.
Krier est un Sbctus V populiste. Son p10/et suggere Conc/Ulion
d la foil un point de 'llUe 10mantique et populiste R est intere1St1nt de regal'der la nouvelle carte
du fail que, par enence, il soutient que pour rendre (1978) et d'imaginer chaque projet separement
la vie urbaine (/greoble et du coup humaine, il faut mperpose sur les douze rh4nil, IOit en rant qu;
detruire OU au moins ob1curc/r les monuments type Urbain, SOit en tant qu'idee, comme ce/a con.
/egues pa l'histoire, car cela repreiente Ill volonte vient au p10jet paniculier. Aucune de ces propo,;.
d'une socilte impoalble. tions n'est entierement satilfaisante; certaine11ant
La correction de Stirling, qui 'ie decrit d'elle- mime e/frayantes. R ert evident que 'Roma
mime' du pllln de Rome de Nolli, ell reolisee avec Interrotta' n'a pas cree un urbanilme nouveau. En
aaez de talent. C'est un plan par deaus tout fail, Ii /'on considere que ces p10jet1 ne ptiientent
moderniste, qui demontre de Ill fafOn Ill plu1 clllire pas une 11ision d'un monde meiJleur poaible, iJs
que M Stirling a construit beaucoup d'edifice1 et 1 re/letent tous un element de desespoir.
realise de nombrewc projets. Dans un acces d'ego- Er. cherchant parmi les douze der ideer tJ 11aleur
centrisme, accomPllJr11e d'une tentative d'esprit, urbanilte, l'oeil revient mru arrit aux projetr de
Stirling distribue sur le paysage un echantillon de Rowe, Stirling, Gi11rgo/a et Graves. Bien que Rowe
se! p10pre: p10jet1. E11 utilisa11t adroitt:ment la et prese,,tent deux sorter differentet de
planification de Ill Rome Antique, Stirling demonte monde urbain, ils partagent u11 souci d'organimtion
que cette en general Ii heureuse, ell aussi de plan. Tous deux emploient des collirioru de
ebicace dans Ill manipulation des elements d'archi- grilles et des juxtapositions d'ellment1 urbainr
lecture modeme dan1 un tissu urbain moderne. On geometricalement clain. Rowe offre une 11ille d
peut retrouver les pire1 e/fets de 111 mlgalomanie, hierarchies spatiales, avec des ruer, boule1111nlr et
au panage du Tihre 'Sieme1U', ou Stirling iuggere places, des espaces urbainr clairement defrnil, et
une lilliaon at1ec le veritable tiau de Rome et com- des vouinage1 potentiellement identi/iable1 danr
promet Ill Otiesa Nuovo et l'Onztorio dans le un plan tout d fait traditionnel. Stirling prercnte
prottuus. une ville d neutnzlitl spatiale, caractlruee par
Michael Graves upire tJ un monde qui rerait un l'indeflni spatial de l'urbanilme moderne, cepen-
jardin publique architectural idyllique tempbe par dant bien meilleure que Ill plupart. Stirling
une iophiltication intdlectuelle et une pme de represente auai, en ce qui conceme l'entreprile
conscience salutaire du be1ain de conserver lei entiere, une conscience IOUr/acentedela modernile,
relique1 du paae. Aw:c Ill suggellion d'un rtseau de peur que l'on oublie ou l'on ell. Giurgola
urbain en bordure, la qJhire mondaine demeure et compte mr le bon 1en1 et Ill 1abriete et tou1 lei
ceci donu une image d'un monde ou chacun ell autres bienfa1ts d'un plan en grille, G1r1va,
un membre non oppriml de Ill cour de Venoille1. en plu1 de l'idee de paymge urbain, introduit cette
La prtientotion de Grave1 iemble diliberement sorte de mult1plicite et de complexite de llilion qul
amb'8Qe du fa1t qu'elle concentre une 11t1riete sont nice11111re d tout urbamsme moderne, nche
d'11tterf"''"''""' en une imoge u11ique et ceci, en et reoliste.
utiluant une technique de deain abllraite et Que peut-on apprendre de 'Romo /ntecrott'
purUte d'UM ""'1f/be IOp/riltiquie. Le destin R est clair qu'actueJlement, tl UM qo;,. Otf la
reprbente diHnemmt et limulttznlment le plan prtflrence1 penolllltlle1etlei11ttltuder "'' rlld
d'llhtltlon, l'aJConomltrie, ltt perspective, d'une /'architecture iont lei p/M1 diNna. I 11) I""
manilre """'1e et denM, ou mince et lifere. d'accord ou de croy11111:e COIUtnte en ct1 flll...,.
C'ell toufoun etlUif. I.a p1'1entatlnn intmduit la ceme lo faron dont la rllesdnrsimt lire /ftll R
not ton motkme lmportante du point de vue e t auia cltllr, que taU:Ull point tli rw
multiple et dmultlllll et du 1e111 multiple, mats peut 111#4Wruto14 tl'i'9'11e11JnJ,..,_
Gtne1 lttille tl l"od le '"' de ie demtmder et ""1tt --. fl9ll/tlfl tit.,, ....
tl l'erprlt le '"' de It PIV""""11' "" Cfl ..... II
eXll&t,,,_ttt eaql SI ,_ tdll
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f) Villa Giulia munphaeum
deed, it was in the villas built in the countryside
Jround Rome by succeeding generations that
\fannerist architectural principles achieved their
greatest development.
The Villa Madama, {1./5), begun in 1516 for
ardinal Giulio de Medici, is the first Roman villa
1
1ich can clearly be labelled Mannerist. Vasari
ributes the design to Raphael, but much of the
rk appear to h:ive been carried out bv Giulio
ma110, who was in Raphael's workshop at the
unc. Like most of the villas built in the Roman
1rnntryside during the century, the Villa Mad?ma
\'as not intt:nded to servl! as a residence, but
'ather a a lavi. h retreat where the cardinal could
ntertain guests and !.'Scape the heat of the city on
1 summer day. The of the site on the
.lope of Monte Mario and the lack of a specific
irchit.:ctural programme contribute to the novelty
lf the relationship between building and landscape.
'Jlle building was planned around a series ofout-
1.JOr courtyard space , linked axially and leading
1
tirnately to the garden, (4). One approached
-,1m the river, per hap ascending by a series of
ttpped terrace (the design of the garden has not
1een convincingly reconstructed), to a massive
acade facing the city. A minor axis through the
uildinr- tc.-ps up the hill, connecting the stables at
h, l<mer lcwl \\ ith a circular court at the piano
111b1lc and an amphitheatre, cut into the hillside
"oh'. fhl' primary t:ntrancc seem t\1 have hecn ;1t
nt end, where a large re1:tangular 1.:ourt leads
hrough a to tht: cirn1lar court, wl11d1 is the
oided core of the building, and then out through a
cond loggia to the giardino scgreto. l hisscque111..'C
I linked vnids carved into hl' mas.s of tl1l' huildin)!
hie\ Cs a lig11r;1I qualil}' in its don11nan1:e over the
111m or the vill.1. I hl' proces.sion spills over into
1c g.ml n, \\ hid1 is treated as a series of outdoor
111111 . e\lcnding the re.1lm of architecture into the
111d .lpl', lc.lllim: finally to a r1stll' nymphaeum
ut mto the 11111 ide, where the man-made land cape
nd the natural landscape ultimately merge.
While the Cortile di Belvedere l."Onsi t of a
rie of garden terrace , it l."Omposition is under-
ood primarily a a ingle pace which has been
-agmented. (TI1u it remains within the Renait-
tradition.) In the Villa Madama, the fragmen-
>rY nature of the composition is the donun.1t
1eme. The major space , a iaUy aligned, are
ndcntly conceived and linked by p1roclllllloa
the building. The prden -rtJ
eated a ne of outdoor rooms. ...........
par.ated yet linked proc:emonally tlallt
between architecture and '-'ape per.
4 Villa Madama plan, Raphael, Giulio Romano
_J [
7 Villa (,"iulia, street jacade, 111:110/a 1551 55
- -6;
8 Villa Giulia, casino courtyard facade; vignola
construction on the amphitheatre was halted when
landslides threatened the safety of the project.
Even partial!} completed, the villa maintains the
charact::r of a fragmented gatewa}' to the garden, a
non-building.
The Sack cf Rome by the l'rench Empernr
Charles V in 15 27 was an important factor i11 the
spread of Mannerism to the rest of Italy, for many
of th:: artists who werr active in the first decades
of the century lei! the city after the Sack and
settl-.:d in the north. Die stylisti.: diversity of the
perk1d is no doubt due partly to this dispersal,
however ever. more import;:nt was the new artistic
freedom. In the years immediately following the
Sack, al"11vity in Ro!lle slackened. The
spirit of experrmenlation that began the century
was not diminished b}' th<' hiatu., however the
ideas initiated in the robus1 phase developed
at mid-century into a more mature, classical phase
of Mannerism.
The Villa di Papa c;iulia, ( 4). was begun in
155 I hy Pope Julius 111 on his prop,.rty aero. s the
Tiber from the \'ilia Madama. Where the architec-
ture of the Villa Mad.1ma is articulated as a gate-
way lo the garden, in the Villa Giulia the idea of
building as a \Cries of voids i developed to the
ex!ent that tll' an:hitccluie bet:omes the frame for
the garden itsdl. (5).
A number of artists contributed to the project,
making it dil hcult lo dl'tcrmmc the precise contrt-
bution of each. Vasari da1111s l'redit for the original
layout, and it t thought that Michelangelo played
some role in the early tage Vignola was respon-
sible lor the de ot the ea ino with it semi-
l1n ul.u lo 11 111J 11 r en mccrm till' waterworks
of the sunko1 n mpha um. llo vcr, It wa
Ammannat1 \"liho devil d the flrc nt arrangement
of a cond loggia and conne ting courtyard walls
between th a 1110 and th nymphaeum, a devite
which Johu ( lolidg point ' ut cceedcd an um
fymg the prevaou y d met lement of the com
position the U-thapecl of the ea no and the
void or the nymphaeum.
2
It a ea of uniftca
by divilion for the loggia fint tbe
the nymphuum from the ntrance then
lllO\lel thftNlh the courtyard frames it.
eat logia. the painld ramp
of RfmpUeunt
t
10 Villa Farnese, Capraro/a
to the ne t via the loggias along the central axis of
ymmetry, movement between adjacent courts
1s alway to either side. One is continually brought
back to the central a is, however, by the visual
connection to the adjoining segment.
While the patial character of the Villa Giulia is
e scntially as it was in the seicento, its surface
has not been a well prt'scrved. Stucchi
omc covered the blank panels on the semicircular
fale of the ci.sir,o; there were frescoes of garden
L-Cnes on the upper curved walls of the
nymphaeum, and on the end wall aviaries opened
to either side of the third (6). The
were lilied with statues, anJ the display of wat<'r in
all three courts would have contiibuted to the
sensual e'perience in a way which we can only
11na)?1nc today.
1"!1c urfacc aspects of Mannerism hi.ve been
much Jisi:ussed with respect to the work of
M1ci1clangelo and that of Giulio Romano in
Mantua, however the exaggerated character of their
\\ork is not necessarily typical. While certain
ccncralities can be made concerning the surface
trc:1t rnent of Mannerist buildings, there i. con-
si<knhle stylistic diversity, and indeed such
di.ersity is an important aspect of the period. It is
interesting to note in this regard that, because of
st. list1c discrepancies. the outer and inner faces of
thl Vill:1 Giulia casino were once attributed to
1ftl 1 r,nt ard1itects. Both were designrd hy
\ 1 n.,l.1; their differences seem to result from their
<lil!L'll'nt lunctions. 1 he public facade is solid and
. 111 .. ular. \\ 11 h rustication symbolising its protective
\.1h1L'. (7), "'l11lc the private court facacle. a con-
1111111111\ cndos1vc curve, has a more linear, even
url,ll L'. (8).
I he d1 tindions of mc:inin!! in thL'Sl' surfaccs
.,,. h.1 d "11 th u" "' lrad1t1011al ;11d11tL'l"tur;il
Ill 111 Ill .1 11 "\\ \\here \lannl'rrst pa111t Ill' '"'-''
11.11111l .1 :i h.1"-' lrorn \\hid1 Ill .1bstract. Mannerist
.ir l11IL' tur u cs classical architclturc. Sud1
1h tr.1 11011 1s h.1scd <>n umlcrstaudin!! thL' C\Sl'IHT
1. ii 1 lht stth t"IHt' ol d.rs rc;rl 11l"!11ncll11L',
"""I""" spatt.il ideas as well .is element . In its
pl.111 1>r>!.111tsat1011 a well as surface treatment, the
\ 111.1 ( dllh<I tomb mes a unified cl lect ol the whok
\\ 1t h .1 11nultaneous diversity ol its parts; achil'ving
.111 111l 1rn.1tl' s} nthesis ol conceptual ;rnd pcrlcptual
l' pt.:ril'IH:l'.
In I 559 Vi1mola hcgan work on a villa at
(',1prarnl.1, (152). lor ( ardinal Alessandro I arnesc.
llc h.iscd his plan on the existing penta)!onal foun-
d at tons, which were typical of 1 uscan RenaissanL'C
viii.is, derived from fortified rural fie
I I Villa Farnese, Capraro/a pion (Gromort}
)) tf?l:f !
/'-/I
/ CtJJ
ir
1
I
I
I
\"
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1
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A
1! y
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I) I ilia J.;mnc p/u11. <i111rurola. I 'ixnolu I 55'J {'asi)
111,,>rpor.1tes tl11s traditional dosed form
into an open spatial sequence, linking city to fore-
court to building (with its circular cortile) to
garden. (')). \I (";1prarola the dialogue between
hurld111e .11111 l.111d 'I'" '' 1: ... cn t" a ne\\ level.
I 11sl. a p.11r ol Wlf<'I g.mlcns arc l111kccl across a
rno.11 lo the l\\o rear laces ol the pentagon.
1 urther up tl1< 11111 to one side, set with111 a hosco,
is a scnimf l11r111.tl 1r<kn. u111sist111g of a water
sl;11r k.1d111,: I .1 .-.is:rH>, .1ml linally to an outdoor
room hounded hy hedges, paved in pebble mosaics,
and l'dgld with lountains Sl't among parterres. This
second garden scquenn IS aligned on an axis which
seems rndqwndenl o I the 11ri1!111al compo it ion, yet
wl11d1 lcrmrnates h.Kk at the stair leading from the
main street of the town to the forecourt of the
villa. Thus at the cnd of the architectural prome-
nade a visual connection is made back to-its begin-
ning, (I 0). I he idea of splitting the garden and
setting it in a bosco represent a eontinuingdialogue
between the man-made landscape and the natural
12 Villa Lonte, Bagnaia; Vignola 1566
landscape, as one moves from garden to bosco and
back to formal garden again.
The nearby Villa Lante, (151), at Bagnaia of
1566, also attributed to Vignola, represents a
different attitude; here the landscape has become
the architecture, ( 12). The residential functions of
the villa are filled in two side pavilions which are
treated as minor in the composition.
4
The major focus is on the garden it:;elf. The
symbolic programme of the Villa Lante represents
a progression from natural landscape to man-made
la!ldscape, and ultimately to urban landscape. This
is reinforced by the use of 'IUte1 which rushes out
of the natural bosco at the enu of the sequence
into a grotto on the central J:\.is of the garden. It
moves frorn four1t:oir. to fountain down the hill,
slowing gradually as it proj!resse , until finally it
terminates in a quiet reflecting pool set amidst low
parterr'!s i!l the fiat at the base ol the liill.
One experiences the reverse, starting at the
bottom and moving always against the current of
the water. Water is the focus of this garden; its
path is so rnntrolled that II achieves the perma-
nence of stone. The hedges arc its walls; columns
of trees arc set amidst columns of marble. atural
elements achieve solidity in their alliance with
architectural elements. I he Villa Lanie is set
within a public forest at tlw ed!!e of the town.
Though separated b} walls, the two seem to merge,
for till' l.1tcr.rl f:il"l' nl lhl l!.1rdl'n lead oll to vistas
into the wood. I he dialogue established here
between an:hilll"furl' and landsc.l(>e is hoth more
subtle and more direct th.111 .It C'aprarofa .
('ollcctivcly thl'Sl' \ rllas rcpnscnt not the linear
development towards .1 patial ideal, hut rather a
simultaneous investigation of various themes
within the arl of ard11te,tur<'. In )!Cneral thcrl' i a
Ill'\\ cmphaS1s glV<'ll lo lht rll.11ronsh1p ht't\\lc'n the
hu1ld111g and its onfl t, rn lhl'Sl' l' .1mpks the
rum I landslape. I his '' t:ons1stl'nt \\ llh till' general
e:\.pfoltation ol thl' prllccssion.11 aspel"!s of ard1i-
ll'l"lure and thc hnk111 of 'I'"" n 'lll's. One
l"Hild anal}"-' othcr hurld1111! I} f s rn s11111l.1r tcms.
1 he ritual aspects of .1rchllt'l"lun lii:un promi-
nently in the dchatc '' hid1 rnnl mued throu)!hout
the L-Cntury conlcrn1111! lhl' .1ppropri.tt<'ne sol the
centrally planned church Vl'rsus the longitudinal
plan, as reflected not only in the sd1cmes f,1r St
Peter's but also in the rnmpctllmn designs for San
Giovanni dei fiorentim. Sud1 cont-em arc al o
manifested in the 16th-ccntury urban palazzo, of
which Palazzo Massimo is a particularly rich
example.
In 1532, Baldassare Peruzzi wa hired by Pietro

1$ ...
ns.;m
4 .,,..,...,.. Attrlb
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eatlttpJ .....
4i 1Wtik F.,,,.._ o,no Vlrtorlo E"""""1e.
Suplo B Gllmnl 1523 (1911Hent
..._ 01I..., Co>"'
1"'11ao f"ia del Sudtlrlo. 10-16.
....... ISIS (fMaCle on Via de1 Sadario). 7
8 ,.,_.JO Ltmallotti. Piazzll NtlllOllll, 114. Pirro
Ligorio, 1'52-60. D7
9 PoJaz Jl11ct:aTlllll. Plana dt S E111tlldlio, 8J.
Giulio Romano, 1535. E7
I O Palazzo Mmtmo a/le Calonne. Omo Vittorio
Emanuek. Baldamne Peruzzi, 1532-36. D7
11 Polazw d1 PirNJ, Cano J mono Emtmuele, 145.
G10vanni Mangone (upper floor added later). D7
12 l'bMzzo Sora, Cano Vittorio l:"marruele, 217.
I aCllCle on V'aa Sora attrib to Bramante, 1503-09.
D7
l 1 Palazzetti, Via de/ Pellegrino, 6.5-66. foacades
attrib to Damele da Volterra. 07
14 Zttca (Palazzo de/ Banco di S Spinto), Cano
Vutono Emanuele. Antonio Sangallo il Giovane,
l52l.C6
15 Palazzo Gadd1 (N1ccolmi), Via de/ Bonco d1
s SpU'ltO, 42. Jacopo sansovino. C6
16 Palazzo de/la Valle, Cano Vittorio Hmanuele,
IOI. Lorenzo Lotti(Lorcnzotto), 1517. E7
17 Sant' Andrea de/la Valle, Corso Vittorio
f.'man11ele. lrancesco Grimaldi and Giacomo della
Porta, 1591; (completed 17th-cent by Carlo
Maderno and Rainaldi). 07
18 011esa 11ova (S Mariam Val/1cel/a), Corso
Vlttono f.ma11uele. Giovanm Matteo da Citta d1
Catello and Martino Longhi ii Vecchio, 1575-1605
(lacade later). 07
19 S Mana d1 Mmiserrato, 1'1a di Monserrato.
ntomo San!(allo II <.:iovane. I'\ 18. 07
'O l'u/a o c;1anx1amro, d1 Mmm rraw. 105.
07
21 Sa11 C1wvan111 d<'t 1-ior<"ntmi, Via Ci111/1a. Jacopo
Sansovmo; Antonio Sangallo ii <.:iovane, 1520;
<.iacomo delta l'orta. 1583-1602 (facade later). C1
n 'l1xw" 11 Ort/1<1, IU d Sant. f.llf{W.
tlnb to Raphael, IS 16 (facade later). 07
23 Palazzo Oarel/1, Via G111/1D 79. Antonio
Sanllo 11 Giovane. C1
24 Palazzo Sacchelll, VID G1u/111, 66. Antonio
Sangallo ii G1ovane, anm dt Bace10 Bigio, lSSS.
C1
25 Polazzo de1 Tnbuna/1, VID G1ullll. 62. Bramante
(unfinished). C1
26 Oratono di S /.11e1a de/ Gonfalone, VID del
C10rtfalone. !'.arty ISOO.. C7
27 S Maria deU' Orrtzwne e Morie, 11"1 Glullo 1575
_ _. __ :a.id ....
..,.,...,.,. .. Oll.:1-.1111
15"
33 .. '!fl"' ...


11. Aid, ____,
4' BaeciO llflio D
18 W.0Mlltft*"' l'lonwlqr11im. A_.
Vfpoll. 1541. ll1
J9 Paid Coetanl. Yid "'11/tt flolt4/te a.. J.
ttrt- AllDiballt 87
J lWtqzo MutiBluli, Yid"' J'or ........
Giovarirll Ant De Rolll. a'7
41 Pllltrzzo Lante, PidzodelCqretli, 70 Jacopo
SisloYino E7
42 Palazzo de/la Stlp/lmU, Qno "41
Giacomo deDa Porta facade, 1587; (courtyud and
Sant' Ivo by BonomW.17tlMlent). E7
41 Polazzo de/ GoWHnO Vecchio, Via del GONnlO
Vecchio, J9 D6
44 Palazzo de SalfgTO, Via del GoPOnlO Vecduo, J.
Late 1 SOOs. D7
45 Palazzo (Pal di Bramante} Via del
Goll0f1to Vecclr10, 121. 07
46 Owl di Raphael, Via dei Coronllri, 122-21 D6
47 Palazzo Vecchiarelli, Yla del Corolulrl, 135-41.
Bartolomeo Ammannati. 07
48 Tabernacle '/mmagine del Ponte', wa de1
Coronari and Vicolo Dommo Antonio Sangallo ii
Giovane, 1523; fresco Penn del Vaga. D6
49 Qua di ProqJero Moch1, Via de1 Coronar1, 148
49. Pietro Rosselli, 1516. D6
50 Paiazzetto Oriovenda, Vu:olo Monte11ecchio,
5- 7. Attrib to Baldassarre Peruzzi D6
51 Palazz rto. V1Colo Monte duo._? Attrib to
Baldassarre Peruzzi. D6
52 Palazzo R111z. Piazza F111mmetta, /6A D6
51 Palazzo Samp1en, Piazza Fi11mmetta I I D6
54 Palazzetto de/le Qnque Lune. Piazza de/le
Cinque lune. Attrlb to Antonio Sangallo ii
Giovane. D6
55 Palazzetto Boldass1111 V111 delle Copp ll . 35
Antomo II G1ovane, 1514-25. E6
56 Casa Vtacampos V111 de/ Orro, 28. Antomo
Sangallo ii G1ovane. D6
57 Palazzo d1 ftrenze, Piazza Firenze, 27. Portirn
m corttle and garden Bartolomeo Ammannati.E6
58 Palaz:o Cardelli Piazza Carde/11, 4 (Viad.Ila
Scro/a). I acade. I rancesc:o da Volterra. 1592.
E6
59 Palazzo IJorghae, Pillzza Borghese. Vignola.,
I 560, (completed l 7th cent 1 lamimo PORZIO).
E6
60 San l.u'6/ dei Fnurceld, Piazza S lu'6/ de1
Froncem. Do1Mmco Foatana. IS24-89. Facade
Giacomo cleUa Porta. E6
61 S Glmlllmo dt!ffi SdliaPoni, LIB1lodttfll
Schilwonl. Rebuilt 1587 Mudno l.onlh1 D
Vecchio. P.5
'hinges' unmistakably form the points
of the urban triangle determined by
Via Condotti, Via del Babulno and
Via di Ripetta. Further, half way up
the Via di Ripetta, the node made up
of Porto di Ripetta, the Mausoleum
ol ugustus and the church of S
Carlo al Corso, fulfills the role of
'hinge on the tangent to the arc of
the riber. This hinge draws the Via
di Hipetta away from Piazza Borghese
and, although the Piazza Borghese is
at the geometrical vertex of the
11rh111 tri;ingle. it appears shifted over
h its relationship to the river is

?
I h hio;torv of Piazza del Po polo
tl1< mos: signitkant 'hinge' of th.:
whole BarOliue system in the northern
part of I.he city - clearly shows,
through various contributions laid
down in the span of two centuries, to
what degree the deeper structure of
the urban image depends on choices
made on the scale and within the
limit of architectural thought. The
perspective plan of the Tempesta of
I 593 surveys the anonymous condi-
tion of the place preceding the inter-
ventions. In Nolli'1 plan the final
..
order 11f the l'i:ill<t, still rem1rkahly
i11compiete in omp:irison to its fiual
configuration, had nonetheless been
predetermined.
This was a direct conse4uence of
the completion by Rainaldi, starting
in 1662, of the twin churches of
S Maria del Miracoli and S Maria di
Montesanto. The provocative capacity
of these two elements results from
their architectural resolution which
splits the visual focus on these two
churches. This device unloads the
weight of their two mB11es onto the
l'iana. Thir <limensions ure swn1lt
c.111tiy out of caie with the prol1lcs
o( the three converging streets of the
Tridente. This device is also evident
in many of the projects prepared by
Vuladier from 1793 onwards.
The attempt to close the conver
gent configuration of the Tridente
began with the Introduction of two
long, porticoed buildings placed bet
ween the twin churches and slightly
aet back in relation to the optical
channels of Via di Rlpetta and Via
del Babulno. This arrangement
formed a tight, splayed piazza. After
variou permutation of the 1810
project, the programme for the
Tridente was developed by Intro
ducing, in ide the city wall , ome of
the spatial character! ties of the vast
natural 1rrangement anticipated for
Villa N11poli:one. Only then, llS a
re ult of this urban/non-urban
Jialc<:t1c, J1J the tormallvt: proce of
the c;iardino dcl <..rande Cesare he.gin
to unfold. n1is 1.:tiun had the effect
of fur the piazza the two
<" edr.1 .. 111tl n.1ting between tht: two
d1111cli. .111J Ille gate .1 prul: ol
sp.1ti.1I int rpla\
I or our pru1 t to onll'nd \\i 1t
1
1 a
si1t1ation which. 65 year later, would
tmJ an ,. tr.1orchnar re olullon,
\\n1lll he ,1 1111.111 111etfdi d1 er
sion. Howi:ver. to all empt to read
from that later resolution could be a
useful form of verification.
Our proposal for 'Interrupted
Ito me devclor the area of the two
e cdra. However, the clarity of the
e i ting Neu-cl 1 lcal Intervention I
dehatable owing to the retention of
the S Maria del Popolo mon tery,
which outlive it If and break up
the Baroque Intervention The olu
lion of the Pinelo, on the lope of
......
., ....... Tiie
*"*' 1114 aller-war
... by IM permaneat
..,...... ,.,.... .... When comideria1
a promeude whlcla would link llae
ilDportaat vilbl, from the Bridlb
Em .... , to .... VUla ........ d
... dial tlmtuah tile Vlllaa Torlonta
Pqaaninl and Albani, one can
bonte a Yeptal circuit thnadin1 atl
way between private homes and their
gardens.
Fiction I
The .A u ~ l 4 n Wall
Diversion of a connralnt
Celebration of a limit
The tory of the affectionate relation-
ship betwec;n Rome and its wall is
full of events, .or celebrations, of
aggressions; of monumental doon,
such as the Portalia Pia-, of breaches,
either military such aa Victor
l::mmanuel's, or circulatory such as
Porta Salaria. The permanence of the
Aurelian Wall, which enciosed most
or the city when Victor Emmanuel
entered Rome in 1870, i surprising if
compared with Paris or Vienna,
where demographic and in titutional
evolution led to the suppression of
the city walls. 1 hi'! project of a radial
development on the axi Via del 20
Settembre - Via Nomentana which
expresses the idea of creating a
republican axis, symmetrical to the
Vatican axis, is a partial expJanation
for maintaining the Aurelio Wall.
The moving of the Porta Nomen-
tana, owlna to an adjustment durina
the layina out of the Via, enabled -
by appropriatina land on both aides
of the road - the buHdlna of the
VIiia Costaauttl, which "- since
become AndOlllla. Th sumptuous
Alltlq Rome, la Ille I lab
'*llWJ, or aow It fonts a witneas,
an evedatia1 liln of the relation
betwfen dty -4 aature. Yesterday,
aa well u todaj, Whal me aot to be
foend fil Y Plaas of dtiea Ja this
dimeftdon of 'W'efelal. paruitfc forms
QIQIC)t be ,..,......,eel,
thoqh they are a main feature of the
city.
palace llll'fowaded by prden
with numerous ~ effects.
Factories were built aplast the
Aurelian Wall and topther haw con-
tributed to its implantation aa part of
the form or the city
In hil aardoa, C:O.tquui bad a
larp artificial potto with many
room butlt apinst the wall. A water-
fall from the top of the wall fed into
a little artificial lake: the lake of the
Oead. These arottoes were aar-
mounted by a garden from wlalch the
top of the all as eui.ly rea.:hed,
and where omu:ould enjoy th beauti-
ful scenery of the RomH coun r -
aide. Claude Nicolas Ledou ho
stayed nt the Villa CO aautti,
pre entt"d his ho with I drlwln1 of
a door for the arotto ...... to the
one of the Royal SaltWot of Ale
and Senan.
Outafde the
22 Gowmment Centre, Doha, 1916
,.
.;_ - -
. -:
- , I '
,, , ! i I
- i I
. L. . ... --=.. i =.!.
- 111 1 -
,.,, -
28 Sheffield, 1953
27 Lelceter, 1959
.. ..

29 Ormbrldge, 1964
20 Gollt!mment Doha, 1916
2.'i JS 50th birthday cake
JO Cam1Jrid6e 1964
) Coatla ... lloq *
die loecl recdfitd OM
reacla die MW c,i.,..._
tranoe II from t1111; flllilllO
(:4). da ........ ...,,
of ...... Paleuo IUllto. la
eh.- " ..... of Swe4ea
fouaed la 1700 tlM 1fOUP of
tile Arcadia. Tour It ,.,i of
tlae COUeetlo of the atloul o.a.,
or Art. n. moo.....,..
...,_ at eon of tlae p1m
from .,... tlat ....... a ofa
fonuf ...... wldcb bal been
tended ud .upt1y ....,..eel endJn1
at the foot or the JS
oa a birthday cake, (2S), which bu
Npiaeed Garibaldi Oft I lao, (26).
TllJa prden bas PGlltioaed on Its
26 Monument to GuitMldl, 1895
edps a Department of EnPteertn1
(Lelceater Ualwralty 1959, 27), aad
an Arts Depwtmnt (Shemeld
Unhenlty 1953, ZI) ladudiaa a
School of ArclaJt.ceun, lllO a
Hlltory Facalt7 (CaiQddp Ua r-
llty 1964, - lllO oar Road *
...... wlalcla .............. ,. ...
demlc w ,....,.. around a
....... 29,,0).


40 4142 Dre6dner Bak. 1977
48 Bra,,,.,,tta Tempwtto and eourt
47 O.U.14or/. 1975
45 City Centn, Dnby, 1970

t;
I
51 Donn LOfW, 1965
quarten of a poup of poets wh<
aimed to 'return poetry to the purit)
of claaic:al tradJtiom'/7 The stel>'
lead allo to another uea of housin1
and to die Ualvenlty.
q) The road out of Rome toward
Tuscany .,..... tbrougb Porta
Paac:razio, OM of the city's mair
ptes. The Glanicoio walls were hull
bJ Pope Urban VIII (162344) accor
dins to RenaJaace miUtary design
thouah keepln1 la miad the spec1fi
contours of the hW Complementar.
to these, a new wall of building
propoMd ( ... Dorman Long Pro,e
1965,J/). Tbesewall along the ere
or the h1U separate the hlstonc are
from the Campqaa Romana, and th
form or the new buildings re1nfor e
tbe defeamw/protective funcnoa o
the Giaaicolo wall while absorbin
the pGlt-war development which ha
occurred In the ..... round vi
Grqorio VII. Vehicular access 1
from Vacuum Stnida and there 1
multl4ewll carperldJll at lower lewt
with Ufla to atnce floon abow. T
facllltale ......... lllOft .. Dt i
tbele .... '"' ................ pa
wt a flat floor a.wel liltercoaMCI
all Hft .....
CMtace.
ltlDI In collabontion
IS & P). Tile city lnteada to
lta Regloul and JuclJdal
'ltncr. from the Y8rloua palazzi in
he hiltoric area and stve dleae
uUdiap over to residential use. The
lealp of the new centre relates to
he concept 'prden-1ateway-island',
58). The garden of th ViUa Doria
amphili is a threshold, the front
oor step, to a sequence of new buil
lnp; it is also the upper surface of a
trge underground carpark. Position-
J over the 'way up' from this car-
ark is an entrance pavilion (the VDla
imphili, SJ and 54) which serves as
ortico to the bridge spanning to the
.iateway '. The Gateway, (SS), is a
roup of buildings which include a
otel and three office to"'rers; it is in
1e larger sense a Gateway to the
Jproach to Rome/Florence from the
est and by Vacuum Strada to the
w developments on the Gianicolo
111. At lower levels, !he Gateway
comes an interchange with roads,
r parking and metro stop. An en-
>sed bridge leads to !he island. 'The
1se of the island i!I a large ground
vel c:tr park with frequent stairs to
1e piazzas and buildings above ...
ne Regional and Ju:iicial buildings
1d shops, offices and residential
nits are positil}ned in several ptazzai:
d pedestrian streets at varying
vels though all are interconnected
colonnades and terraces, (56) ...
'le relationship of buildings to
ban space is of similar proportions
those in Florence, ie: the Piazza
Ila Signoria, (5 7), the Piazza SS
inunziata, etc, and a "mix" of
fice and residential units plus
>pping, bars etc should keep these
ices active throughout day and
ening .. .'18
To the north a new park and lake
.e been created for public recrea-
nal u e. The site around the lake is
1dscaped according to the tradition
I 8th entur Englhlh gardens, in-
dmg the careful positlonang of
hitectural follies (c/ Stourhead,
), uch as a group of stiff Dom-ino
uses (195 I) and an E pandable
u e, 1957, (60), and a model
lage, 1955 (61), and many more,
connected by footpath around
lake. The most picturesque site
ng the water edge la occupied by
Castle (reference Olivetti, Milton
yne 1971, 62) wbich has senerous
rt faciiltlea and Its own pier for
Ina. The Island ln the centre of the
e has on it a small pavilion (houte
the Isle of Wlaht 1956). Borderlat
this luxurloua estate is a runl
111lna commune ('" our Uma
ject 1969, 63) conalstlna of boUM
.,.
I Atdaitecta used to need kinp and
dlctaton to liberate their megalo-
mania, but now they do a better
job themselves. They think that
they are ghea larp suma of
money to play pmea with, just u
a child or a Rembrandt for that
matter ii given a cheap box of
paints. So Gropius flees Hitler
and infticta the Pan Am building
on New York. Stirling Inflicts the
glaahouse on Cambridge. Frank
Uoyd Wrigbt's houses are notor-
ious hell to Im in. Even Saarinen
foists his protege 'I unbulldable
Opera House on Sydney. The
common factor is a complete dis-
dain for the people to have to live
with it (God help me, I'm going
to have to live with the glass-
house I). All this la ln the authen-
tic tradition of Vanbru1h and
Gilbert Scott. Nothing matters to
these men but their rcputatior. in
the art-histories. They are not so
much undemocratic as enli
democratic: structural fascists.
The astonishing thing is that
Hitler was a failed paint'!r. Stalin
a failed divine. Had they been
failed architects, they would have
'hed blood, not in rivers, but in
oceans.' Hugh 3rogail, The Cam-
bridge Review, October 1968.
(Such is the hysteria of some 0 -
bridge Dons when confronted
with modern architecture. This
was an early effort in the now-
fashionable tirade against
architects in the UK).
2 30 out of SO
3 Stirling and Gowan projects: I le of
Wight House 1956. Three house
for B Mavrolean 1957, Expand-
able House 1957. Churchill
College 1958, School Assembl)
Hall 1958, Selwyn College 1959,
Leice ter UniversitY. Engineering
Building 1959, Old People's
Home 1960, Children's Home
1969.
JS and Partner (Michael Wilford)
projects. Olivetti HQ 1971, t
Andrews Art Centre 1971,
D-Muaseldorf Museum 1975,
Cologne Museum 1975, Meineke
Struse Berlme 1976, Government
Centre Doha l976, Regional
Centre T1a1Cany 1976 (wath
Castore, Malanima, Rizzi),
Dreadner 9aatt Marburg 1977.
4 'The collecdon (In a btdldln1) of
forma and aha the
... ryda pubU
with and be /Mf-
l*ntl/) with
ellOfttial. tile toe.I lltllNlflt(
could be thouaht of --
blap of ....-yday elementa NCOI
nflable to a aonnal ma and not
only an schltect. For laatance, In
a buildina dlcl at 0 ford Uni-
versity some yeua aao (1966) It
ilateaded that you could
recopile the hiltaric elemts of
courtyard, entrance pte towers,
cloiaten; also a central object
replacing the traditional fountain
or statue of the college founder.
In this way we hoped that
students and pubUc would not be
dbtl#oclllttd from their cultural
put ' JS lecture lnd Iran Inter-
national Congress of Architecture,
Persepolis 1974. See 'Connexions'
AR, 5/75.
5 'Collage City', Colin Rowe and
Fred Koetter, AR, 8/75. Also
appearing in MIT press.
6 Employed or commissioned by
Central Government or Local
Government.
7 'Despite obvious preference of loca-
tion this most important site (In
Cologne and adjoining the Cathe-
dral) has been criss<rossed by
high speed roads which together
wath service roads cover much of
the ground surfa""-e of the building
site.' Report by Cologne City
Authorities to the Architects for
the new Museum - uct. is testi-
mony to the Planners' Art.
8 The triangular plaza (of the Col-
ogne project) is here a mote valid
modern alternative than the l 9th-
century creation of the Corso
Vittorio Emar.uele, as Che Cologr>e
project re tair>s lhe plaza's original
hape. Thi plaza i dominated by
h"o celigious buildings, however
the Oratorio dei Filippini prevails,
because of 'the extraordinary den-
sity and intensity of the image,
\\hich make Borromini' insertion
the true protagonist of the
surrounding space'. Portoghe i,
Roma Barocca.
9 The Roman left bank ha always
had a character of its own. The
medieval ljUarter. Tra tc\ere. had
and till ha a ddinitc working
class status, while the Gianicolo
arc 1 ltm I) de eloped a the
'. uburban' home of the wealthy
.md the loc,11ion for man} con-
vent and monasterie . Toda) it
also h u Rome' mam prison,
lte m 1 ( och. ('l he poh t: c
full pre nted the d\.onon trator
frum rea hlng Reg1Aa Coeli
prJSOn, which 11 on the Tra tevere
1de of the Tiber, by blo kins all
the l>r1dre . Tht ..:auscd add1t1on
al traffic chaos.' Gullrdltln
7/3/77.) The Siemen crossing
pans from the t1ghtl -knit fabric
of the right bank to the Via
Lungara, appro lmately at the
location here today e ista the
Ponte Mazzini. Siemen Incorpor-
ate the courtyard of the OD\lellt
of S Giacomo and ls aa attempt
to urbanile the area of tile
Tiber.
I o 'The idea of the dty a coa.p
ot"types"lay behind the Rational
Architecture Conference (March
1975) .. On display in the exhi-
bition was his tiny project for an
art gallery for St Andrews, which
collaged together three e isting
buildings, using a curved wall to
create internal e hibition spaces
and an external entry courtyard
. This collage technique, like
townscape, can include historic
fragments of popular conceptual
reactions to a building or a city.
It destroys the total design,
"machine aesthetic" of the
Bauhaus but retails ideal types.
G Shane, AJ, 16/7/75.
11 See Charles Jencks, A.AQ, 1972
and follow-up letters from JS
and Jencks. To quote from the
letter l wrote to AAQ, 'Jim on
Jencks': 'Dear Sir, Charles Jencks
is all balls if he thinks the St
Andrews Residence was designed
to look like a ship, anymore than
a crotch, etc'. I knew Charlie
would fall for this. When, earlier,
we went round the building
together he asked one of the girl
students which views of the
building she liked - she replied
'all e cept the view up bt:tween
the leg '. Jenck wrote a letter
ir> reply to mine, 'Jenck on Jim :
'Dear Sir, Jame tirling lose. hi
argument tn th:: fir t fi e \ 01d
when he accuse. me, rr.etaphori-
o:al!y, of being "al! ball ", not
,inly because 1 more to m)
anatomy tha11 that, but
because he, like mai.y modern
architect , would like 10 upprn
all metaphor and pretend the
ain't there. Hi n:ference to t
Andre" Re adence a "a crotch
ha more ignificance than he
could like to admit, and ns he
cannot den (because I and
another w11ne were there) at
lea t one girl tudcnt wa highl)
d1 Ire scd at h.1 1111! lo enler lh<
building ''between tts legs" ... '
Note, the 'another witne ' wa
me (J ').
..,.tt
17 Portoghesi RonN
11 From architect port
J .... s,.,...
M"*-IWll/Old
R.,.B..,,.,_
.,.,_.Weis
............
Unctloa. and ............
dvan of the protiloltd and .._...... lltea
ormecl IW or the tone (Satrl,
.fepl, C'ltlta C'Mtellaaa; B...t.rafto, Vlto!Chllno,
tc). In the Cone one bu the f'eelina of being
1111ide', a quallty which ii more often experienced
n OJvlronmenu with a varied microstructwe than
,, the grand and penpicuous landtcapea of the
lalllcal South. The forre haw been extenllvely
11ed during the coune of history. In certain pieces
Norchia, 6arbarano, Castel d'Aao) the Etnllcam
ranaformed the natural rocks into continuous
>ws of architectural facades, creating ertiable
ities for the dead. It ii in this connection impor-
ant to point out that the excavation of tufa rocb
an archetypal way of "building' in lup parts of'
1e Roman region. Today it is ltiU a well-known
rofession to be f'Oltaiolo, that ls, an excavator of
rtificial caves. In general the forre bring us dose
> the ancient forcea of the earth; they bring us
nside' and give us roots.
Whereas the landscape of the Corre is under the
cutral urface of the campagna, the Alban hill
1se up to form an lmpreaive 1Df well delimited
1a 01er the everyday world. Being an old
olcano, the Alban hills have a simple shape, and
1eir clear topographical feature are emphasised
y the presence or two almo t circular lakes in the
eep craters. The hills thus possess the basic
ropcrty of the cla ical landscape: a distinct and
1sily imaginable rela1ionship between masses and
>aces. o wonder that the main sanctuaries of
.atium were located here. On the top of Monte
'avo (A/ha11u1 Mons) Jupiter Latiari presided over
he whole rcgi'>n. In the wood on the lo(>f' of the
1ountam l>aana mirroring herself in the
aim and deep Lago di Nemi, and on the other side
r the lake, in Lanuvio (l.anuvium), where the
lope is cultivated and le steep, Juno had her
emple. It is hardly accidental that the sanctuaries
ire lined up on a north-south axis. Every spring the
'7 member or the Latin confederation celebrated
he Feriae llltinlle on the top of Monte Cavo,
onfirming thus the importance of the Alban hills
11 the centre of the natural region of Latlum. The
1Ws in fact formed the nodal point for a system of
.anctuarie . If we continue the "creel' axis to the
uth, we reach Ando (Antlum) where there wu a

temple dedicated to FortuJll. Cowards the north
the same axis brings tu to TUICUlum where Cutor
and Pollux were at homo, and to TivoU C7'16"')
where Herculea ruled over a wilder kind of' emtron-
ment. The main llDctuariel of Latius thus formed
a natural cvdo with Jup!ter at the centre. On the
other side of Rome the situation wu different;
ancient Etruria wa conquered by the Romans
relatively late, and the woodad Monte Cimino
for a long time remained an insurmountable
obstacle. Towards the north, however, where the
Tiber valley reaches the Roman campagna, we find
an isolated and very characteristic natural place,
the mountain of Soracte, where the temple or the
old Soranus wu located, later to be identi-
fied with Apollo.
We understand that Rome 11 situated between
two different worlds: to the west the chthonic
world of the forre, and to the eut the cllMlcal
landscape of the gods. Around Rome, keeping both
worlds at a certain distance, we find the campagna
proper, which create a kind of pause before one
reaches the man-made synthesis of the city.
But this i not all. The third basic component of
the: Roman genl11s loc1, th<: ardo.cJccurtanus
scheme, 1s also present m the natural unoundmgs.
In Pale trina a large sanctuW dedicated to
lortuna wa built about 80 BC. lwo old sacred
places in the steep hillside were taken a the point
of dcpartur-= for the new layout: a circular temple
of lortuna Primigenia from the third century BC,
and a statue of Fortuna with Jupiter and Juno in
her lap. These two elements were incorporated in
a grand scheme of axially disposed terraces. The
axis function as a cardo which leads the eye
between the Alban hills and the Lepine mountains
toward the distant sea. Below the sanctuary the
wide and fertile Secco valley, which connects the
Roman region with Campanill fellx, runs towards
the eut, crossing the north10ath CtUdo Ute a
decunu1111u. Its direction ls repeated in the terracea
of the sanctuary, which thereby appears u a pand-
iose conc:ntlsadon of the 'cosmic' order whlcb
..... lllSIPGlllldjilllilll ... ..,
...
..
ddll
,. ... J"lllln a
_...,_,. ..... : the
abarb of T...-... of nit, tbu,
.....,. to 11e ...... odd or tone.
M it aot among ... , 11tea.
......... ..._ Tiber 'ltrona'
conflpratloa ts found, and in the doll of Etaaria
there hardly exists a similar cluster of' bills which is
so weD predkpoeed for a conulbetlon. In early
times Rome In fact OOlllllted of l8Yerll ttlements,
which, llko the rillqes of p,..nt-day Etruda, were
located a1oJ11 the aem of the .bills. Among thae
r,,ttlements, however, one '1ld a puticular position
and role; Ro1n11 (JuMlnzta on the Palatine hill.
Accoldtng to lepnd this 1ettlement wu founded
by Romulus and Remus in 753 BC, and the name
indicates that it might have poaeaecl a cardo and a
decumanui. The axil urbl1 of the conwbation,
how.wer, wu the Vaa Sacra leading along the
common forum m the basin between the hills. t 2
It is hardly a coincidence that this axis connects
the Jupiter temple on the Capitol with the distant
Alban hills! The axil urbls represents the ftnt
attempt to make Rome somethJng more than a
cluster of vernacular settlement . The fact that thr.
axis symbolically e tends toward the old "ntre of
Latham lhows that the city wanted to 111W11e the
rote of a tcue urban place which gathers' the
surroundings.
hom early times, then, Rome poue sed a
'double' spatial tructure: the vernacular clu ter of
settlement with roots in the earth to which it
belong , and the abstract a is which made the c1t)'
become the focus of a more comprehensive totality.
The main property of the fir t component 1 the
'idyllic' enclosure of the urban spaces; the second,
instead, aim at axial ymmetry When these two
components are combined, a particular kind of
architectural unit comes into beang n .axaally
ordered enclosure, which may be considered the
basic element of Roman architecture. Ancient
Rome literally consisted of such units rving
various functions: fora, thermae, 1111ctuarie ,
palacea, atrium hou1e ; Ill of them are fally.
ordered enclo1111e1. It Js Important to note that tile
wdU comerve a certain independence within the
urbut totality. They are not milnla&ed by IDY
superior pometrical l)'ltem. but are addecl topther
Ute the indMdual buldlap of the dtllicll Greek
ttlement. Thus weuriYe at the thhd fund111Mmta1
property of Roman space: the clalllcal m..,. of an
the Wolf's Cave. which is named in the Arcadian
fashion atter the Wolf-god. Lycaean Pan. He
showed him also the aettd grove of the
Argiletum. and explained how on this spot
Arg<>s met ft.is death, although a guest. From
there he conducted him to the Tarpeian Rock
and the Capitol, which is now all gold, but
which was once wild and covered with under-
growth. Even in those days that spot held a
sinister awe of its own, which inspired fear and
dread in the country folk. who trembled at the
trees and the rocks. (Evander continued:)
This hill with its wooded crest is the abode
of some god, but it is not known which god he
i . The Arcadians believe they have seen Jupiter
here, shaking the dark aegis in his right hand to
gather the clouds of storm.
1
8
\ml, indeed, Jupiter got his temple on the
Capitoline hill. from where he tamed the occult
forces of rock!! and woods. The passage from
Vcrgil is highly significant as it makes the original
K<11i11s loci become alive. Today the rocks and hills
ol Rome have lost most of their presence, as the
ground has risen I 0-20 metres during the course of
hi tory, and we have to go to Etruria to rediscover
the lamlscapc which 'educated the eyes' of the
ancient Romans. In the forre of Etruria we meet
what l'aolo Portoghesi appropriately has called
'Rome before Rome'.
1 9
Here we find the golden-
hrown colour of Piazza :wona and the Roman
str:.:et'., .:nu we linu the sol t, malleable tufa which
has determined the Roman sense of form. Although
the landscape of the forre has some properties in
common with the romantic landscapes of the
ordic countries, it is basically different. The forre
do not constitute any infinite, mysterious world
such as the Nordic forest, but consist of delimited
imaginable spaces. And their relationship to the
sky is also different. The walls of the forre do
not end in a serrate silhouette, but are suddenly
cut off by the flat campagna. Thus they end Wee
a row of buildings crowned by a cornice. The
l truscans in fact had no difficulty in transforming
.. -
Tlre .....
_...,,.._ WIJ&om
to"'".., ,,. .,,.._
or .W tM .._ ...,..,., Jolldaa or
the .... .... .... - modelled
mtlulr .......... wldch ii 11r1111d
by .. ooatfll- Rt ......... 10W1 of 6adel.
llWlls DP ra.. meb ot tafa. the hcnalet appear
..... ,.... ..... of the aatua1fonnl,1114
....., die ....... loeated in IUth. ft7 that
they .... - _,.,,.. Important ICluctun1
r..._ la the landlCapo, IUda a Clllll, iloJated
p ...... 1, aad pmmoatorla. When uddCectate ii
ued to cladty ad ............ ndape wbich
canGlts of ""'81Nble forms llld .,._, It ii
appropriate to taJt about.
a quality which ii emphaliled by the elemeniary
shape of the hoUles thenuelvea. The vernacular
architecture of the Rl)man ngion thu combines
closen to the earth with a wish for imaginable
order.
The urban architecture of Rome to a high
extent comerves this vernacular character. On the
Campo Mar.do IUld especially in Trutewre the
streets often look like spaces in
tufa rocks rather than bui!t environments; an
impression which it strengthened by the heavy
aud rusticated ground floors. The arched openings
of the tabernae remind us of the grottoes excavated
in the walls of the Corre. The uches themselves
rarely have a tectonic appearance; usually they
form an integral part of a continuous, 'modelled'
frame around the opening. The building materials,
very thin bricks and plaster, emphasise the general
continuity of the space-defming boundaries. In
the simpler houses articulation is scarce. Mostly it
only consists in a subdivision of the facade by
means of string-courses. In more articulate build-
ings, the floors may be differentiated among them-
selves; for instance by making them gradually
'lighter' over a rusticated base. We may in this con-
text recall Serlio 's characterisation of the rusticated
wall u opera di nature, a concept which proves
that the architecture of the cinquecento still
recognised its vernacular roots. The differentiation
of the storeys, however, never becomes a vertical
'addition' of independent units. The clasdcal Ordon
are usually absent from Roman IOCUlar facados, but
classical detail appears as pediments, cornices etc.
n1e traditional Roman house is therefore a unified
and enclosed building. characterised by plasticity
and heavinea. The architectur.tl detail is applied to
a massive core rather than being put of an articulate
body. The type has conserved its identity through-
out the course of history. We find it in the insu/ae
of ancient Rome, as is clearly evident in the better
preserved tections of Ostia and in the Via
Biberatica in Rome. It remained alive during the
Middle Ages,
20
and reappeared with full force in
the palaces of the Renaissance and the Buoque.
The classical superimposition of Orders intro-
duced by Alberti in Palazzo Rucellai, Morence,
about 1450, never became a success in Rome. After
the use offacade-pilasters in the Cancelleria ()489)
Roman architecture returned to the massive
opera di natur.i, an approach which found its
typical manifestation in PaJazzo Farnese by Antonio
da Sangallo (l S l 7). Thus the Roman environment
conserved its closeness to nature. Even during the
Baroque period the palace did not change its basic
properties. A building such as Borromini' Palazzo
di Propaganda Fide (1647f0 appears as a large,
enclosed mas.'l. The rounded comers its
plastic character, and the trmg<ourses bet\\ cen
the storeys tie the volume together rather than
subdivide it: The entrance facade rhow a conve -
concave movement which makes the continuity of
the Roman wall evident. The row of giant pilasters
which flank the main gate do not lelong to any
skeletal structure, but, together with the elaborate
windows on the main floor, visualises the 'archaic'
plastic force of the building. Evidently, thu , the
classical members have a particular f\anction in
Roman architecture.
In Greek architectu.ro the classical mombon
are constituent elements in the full sense of the
word. The buildings are made of columns, ontabla-
ture and pediments. They are trabeatod structurel,
whore each member embodies the character of the
whole. In Roman architecture. instead, the cllllical
Orders are applied to or liberate thomlOlvos from a
mass which is 'given' a priori. The Orders therefore
have a purely characterising function, and are used
to 'humanise' the given opera di ruttura. This is
already evident in the Colosseum, where the super-
imposed Orders transform the primary mass into
a system of characters. Being a main public building,
a centre where the structure of existence becomes
manifest, the Colosseum exposes the Orders out
side, and thereby it fulfills its focal role in the urban
environment. In the Roman palace, instead, the
superimposition of Orden is confined to the
cortile. The ancient forces of nature dominate the
exterior, and we have to go inside to find the
human world of the classical characters. In the
courtyard man has freed himself from the domin-
ation of the genius loci, and may live with those
forms which symbolise his general understanding
of the world. The Classical aedicola which is used
to mark the entrance to the palace, announces the
character of this interior domain.
In certain cases, however, the Orders are also
used to characterise a public, urban space. As
examples we may again quote the Capitoline
Square and Piazza San Pietro. Being main urban
foci, these squares represent a synthesis of nature
and culture. They gather' the meetings of the par-
ticular natural environment as well as man's general
knowledge, and thereby make a total form of life
visible. In both cases this problem is solved in a
truly Roman way. The squares ue not onl)' <ur:,an
interiors', but their b<'undarie' also have the plastic
quality and grandezza of the typical Roman wall.
A giant order is used (pilasters at the CampiJoglio
and columns at St Peter's) which carries a very
heavy entahlatun: crowned by a balustrade and a
row of statues. The powerful intP-raction of \ertical
and horizontal members is Roman rather than
Greek. and when we walk inside the colonnade of
Piazza San Pietro b.:tween the swelling
Tuscan shafts, we teel an echo of the ar.cient world
of the foue and remember Vergil's words about
the 'sinister awe' of the Roman environment. Here
this awe does not announce the presence of Jupiter,
but prepares for entering the church of St Peter's,
perhaps the greatest manifestation of Roman
interiority after the P.mtheon.
Since the first churches were built und.:r Con-
stantine, Roman sacred architecture has conserved
its typical properties. The basic themes of enclosure
and axiality were from the very beginning con-
cretised in centralised and longitudinal structures,
\\hid1 were uscJ a bapistry/tomb and congrega-
tional basilica respectively, a profoundly meaning-
fu I distinction which interprets life as a path
between birth and death.
21
In both cases the early
church was distinguished by a strong interiority.
The exterior was hardly given any architectural
attention, except for l' certain emphasis on the
1111in f 1l1lle; 11 \\,1s c11111.:rivcd as :1 neutral sh II
around .1 rid1I\ a1 t1n1l,1te mterior. In general th1
therm:. 1s taken over lrom Antiquity, but the
C hristian interpetation is different. The mterior of
the l'anlheun is eviJently a representation of the
wsmo . I he spac.:c 1s divided i:t three uperimpol'ed
wne ; the I ir t having a plastic character, the
second a impler and more regular articulation,
wherea the geometrical dome makes eternal
harmony manife t. In the early Chri tian church
we find an echo of thi differentiation, but the
preciM: anthropomorphic character of the lower
zone 1s ubdued, while the upper part of the apace
is tran formed into a de-materialiled heavenly
domain whach spread out u aurfac:e
of shimmering mou1c.
The churche of the Reaaiaance and the
Baroque offer new interpretatloas of tile 1111ae
themes. Again we find that the exterior is_ <;>f.
secondary importance, except. for an increasing
emphasis on the main facade, which in the Baroque
churches indicates a return to the more active
relationship between the exterior and interior
world of ancient Roman architecture. Only the
domes which rise over the roofs of the surrounding
houses are fully articulate bodily forms which
signal the urban presence of the values'symbolised
by the church. These domes are also eminently
Roman in their harmonious equilibrium of
horizontal and vertical movements; so basically
different from the aspiring silhouettes of Byzar.tine
and Eas!ern churches. In the interiors of the
Roman Barc.que th.! anthropomorphk members of
classical archite.:tur'! are again used with full
assurance. Even the tiny space of S Carlino by
Borrominl (l 639f0 is surrounded by a 'colonnade'
of pl.istic shafts, and in St John in the Latcr:in the
same arch1tel.! used a rhythmical succession or
giant pilasters. In general, however, the Baroque
churches .:omerve the primeval cave-like
of Roman sp:?ce, and shun the Gottik inspired de-
materi:ilisation of Central Euro
1
>ean huildings.
22
The Romans di:! to splce what the Greeks did
to plastic form. Applying the classkal orders to the
boundaries of interiors and urban spaces, they
transformed the amorphous enclosure into a
structured whole where the properties of the boun-
daries determine the character of the pace.
Although it is hardly possible to give the boundary
of a pace the same presence as a bodily form,
walls may be transformed into a plastic skeleton, as
was done by Bernini in the colonnade of St Peter'
Square. The normal Roman solu:ion. however, was
to apply the dassacal members to a contmuous,
structural wall. This is the method used in the
Pantheon, the great thermae, the llasihc.:a of
Maxantius a weU a the Baroque churches. What is
'given' in Roman architecture is therelore mass and
pace a primeval totalities.
I he man wh e av.1tes a pac.:c 111 the sott
rock, doc not con truct an 'oppo ite' which,
hke the Greek temple, face him ... He rather
penetrates mto amorphous matter, and his
creative activity co'!fi t in making for himi;elf
an e istc11t111 pace.
These word of Kaschnitz von Weinberg well define
the different approaches of the Greek and the
Ruman We only have to add that the Roman
took over the cla sical order to humanile their
e tentaal pace
To concJUde we might Yisit Piazza avona,
where we encounter the e stentW IPICO of
Romana in lt1 archetyplll form. Plua JOdl
not 1 monumental ............. ,. __ ........,...,_,.,,.. ...
the orillnt. and .....
properties concretise the local landscape, and It
continuous orange-brown walls make us remember
the tufa of Etruria. 1 he articulation of the boun-
daries however, also comprises the anthropomorphic
classical characters, with the dome of S Agnese a a
primary, bodily manifestation. None of the two
components dominate, an ideal equilibrium between
nature and culture has been achieved. At Piazza
Navona we are really 'inside', close to the earth,
close to the palpable things of everyday existence;
at the same time as we feel part of a comprehensive
cultural totality. No wonder that it has become the
popular place of Rome par excellence. The
synthesis of nature and culture is condensed and
visualised in Bernini's great fountain, where natural
elements such as water and rocks are combined
with human figures and religious symbols. In front
of the church of S Agnese, finally, we find another
characteristic Roman element: a broad flight of
stairs. In Rome stairs are not used to create a
distance between different existential realms
rather they represent an articulation of the ground
itself. The great Roman stairs bring us close to the
earth and increase our sense of belonging to the
place.
loci
Our analysis of the spatial tn;cturc and character
of the Roman region has shown that Rome
the centre of a landsCllpc which contains 'every
thing'. In Lallum tht old chthonic forces are
present, as well as the anthropomorphic
of the classical gods, and the abstract, cosmic order
of the i.ky. These meanings become manifest as an
exceptionally vari.:d and rich environment. In
Etruria we encounter the. unJerworla or the forre,
in the Alban hi!ls we rise up to meet the new gods,
and b.:tween these two realms the -::ampagna f mns
an everyday level where the daily life of man takes
place. The role of Rome as capu: mundi i undoubt
edly determined by this natural ituation. In Rome
all the basic categories of existential meanings arc
gathered, like in no other place. This gathering
does not simply consi t in the central location ol
the city, but in an active symbolisation ol the
various meanings. The world ol the forre i thus
reproduced in the streets and piazze of Rome's
everyday environment, and the gods are brought
down from the hills to be housed in urban temples.
horn these temples they extend their influence to
the whole environment cla ical form appe.11 on
the facades and in the courtyards of the houses and
palaces, and 'humanise' their natural' structure.
fhts synthesis ol the d1thunic and the classical
constitutes the e 5encc of the Roman 'idyll'. In the
Greek towns mstead, the dtthoml torces were
vanquished by the 'new' god , and the environment
became fully das teal. What was thereby )!ained in
humar. c.:onh:nl wa lust a a separation lrom the
given nah.:ral reality.
The Roman synthesi also lompnsc the cosmu:
dimension which from immemorial times hu been
a ociatcd with the cours.: ol the un. Stra1 ht
north of Rome, Soracte r:5C ap to rc1.'Cne 1t
'Look how the now hes deeply on ghttenng
Soractc .' says Horace,,. and till today the
mountain exercise 1t spell on the vmtor of the
campagna. The quality of the light i certainly one
of the peat enYU'onmcntal factor which have
cletennlnod the Roman ,.,..,, locL In Rome 1t ha
neither the or the desert
188 aor aim bcric quality
t..a Roman light 1
plutic quality
._ .... ..
rone and the ........_
ring
dlM!lltlo..t
........ , ........
the ....... .. of left
beblal; a peidect. .... ..._... lama die
bllkfordll.....a4clllle....,.
made - ,._., iD ..... COii ... ..,
latM ........ tlllWOlldilptbtmil .... .
built. mabolle ......_ It ii importlnt 1101o t
the coffen or the dome ue not related to the
centm or the spbe1e which could be illlcribecl
within the ..-.. The dome is related to the centm
of the floor, that is, to the centm or the earth, and
the vertical axis wbida it.a up from this centm
tluouP tbe Imp opeaiDg at die -'th tberefore
unifies eartb ud ._.... (mo u 1""t) in a .. n1ng.
ful tobllity.
The ucbitectuae of Rome ptben llld Yilualile
a complete enviraameaL This ptberiag obYiomly
comprilea inn.aces from other cult1llea. Thus
Goethe aid that Rome gave a dwelling to all Sods'.
Thac iDJluences, however, did not iemain a mere
foreip import; tbanb to the muldfarioua llructllle
of Latium, almost everything found a local refer-
ence. If the Alban hills bad not been there, the
classical gods would not have been really at home
in Rome, and if the campqna had not poaeaecl Its
grand and solemn structure, the image of a pmeral
cu mic order might only h.tve 1eemed a far-fetched
product of the human imagination. This general
rea:ptivity ii the real meaning of the saying that
'all roads lead to Rome:'. We misht add that they
also lead from Rome.
Th power and versatility of the: Roman
loci has througbOdt history pw:a tbe arclutecture
of the city a unique and ,,.flllau.
Even the pure and elepnt q1111ttrottnto aot a new
subltantiality under the iafta'CIP' or Roman
ntiquity. A peat unified btUriol' c:b Alberti'
Sant'Aodrea in Mantua ii aatbinbble without
Rome, md its !Kade reproducm tbe at... tdlm-
phal arc:b, that is, the mllin armbol of llome the
place to wlUc:b ............ De crilil ol the
did aot nNlace a ..... arc:billectme to
an arbitlUy p1a, 'Wida r--. It did In other
.,.__ m Rome It ralMr .,._.t llbout
of the new city, where the natural
environment is still moulded by
virgin ravine ; in other word , a fac-
simile of 'Rome before Rome'.
It 1 evident that the penpective
of the intervention i focused on the
futur city, even in the choice of
structures. It is not a monumental
picture bound to take its place in the
archive of timele 'scene from
h11tory .but rather a portion of every
day city composed of hou1e1, hops,
colonnades, collective public services
and utilities woven together iato a
continuous fabric. l::ven the im81e of
natural unoundinp, repraented by
public greens which the proc:eaa of
urbanisation ha colloalted in zones
separated by the city lllandl to
effect man-made constructions
penetrate city with violence.
Nature pierces the body of the city
like a hand with J!-Hnted fingers
entering liquid mass, and the bone
structure of the hand in this Cllllt", is
cu1 r1tutcd hy the umler11:ro11nd
crevices which converge in a single
flow.
The tree-like, branched, structures
found m northern Latium served aa
models for designing the treets. The
tips of the branches were to coincide
with the many poina detlatlna the
area of treet network u it appeared
to Nulli. The definitive form wu
achieved through a proceu of po.
metric ratlonalilatioa wblch took
account of the NRlts of the com-
parative analysis synthesised in the
illustrations, the confrontation of
spaces represented by the ravines and
by the Roman streets and squares.
Selection ii inherent to research,
and we have operated within that
knot of contradictions and alterna-
tives which composes the organism of
Rome. We have chosen a well-defined
portion of its body and its heritage,
not a model or representative city,
not the object of the orations of
Apollodorus from
l'tnlt#rflln: M4 ..... "'
4N1J#r ....
holol'b .....
We .. 8t tM dawn of die ... aild
et.., aymptOllll of exlllultioa malCe
UI tJatiak tlaa, before tM end of Clall
decade, the clebaw oa arcllltec:ture
mlllt look for aew ways out In _..,
to aYOld ........_ and tb eYMloa
of tb wry PIO* that U..
mkecl th.. llllt ,..,.. la .,
opinlo two lopfa of meditation a.
crucW to ....,., ua to come out
"from tbe ltapt optlca of this de-
cade: the arcblteCtun ... twe ud tile
archltectuN.plauln1 relationships.
It Is only rlaht that the debate
6hould open on them, and in the
hope of offering a small contribution
to it, I oft'er here a few consider-
ations on the ftnt topic and attach to
them this ..... or drawings from my
'Rolda lnterrotla' contribution which
auma up a very Iona journey.
E F Schumachttr wrote: capital
comina to us from nature Is much
larser than the one coming from
man', and further, 'the modem indus-
trial 1ratem with lb aophlatlc:ated
inteDectual patrimony consumes the
very basis it wu erected on Jt lives
on a not rntorable capital, treating it
st-:re!e!tts w:: ::
transposed directly to the netd of
architecture, howtng a similar
situation.
This problem Is not only one u
1et by Morris of 'the beauty of
hearth undergoint1 a fa ter and futer
consumption, but allO one of archi
tecture intended as a 1econd nature,
u a reaerve of experiences accumu
lated over the centuries by
succeedin1 generations. It becomes a
clnmatlc problem u soon as one
reallael tbat tit 4atatute of ftulctioa.
alllm' adopeed bJ die ladUl&rlal
qstem, in Its achanc:ecl ataae ........
to the past the role of a ,....... of
Yalues, and to die present, the .,_.
and llmple .....,._...._.,
u me values - without pving the
benefit of offering a creative contri
bution to that a reserve which is
simultaneously belna eroded by
tremendous and destructive
mechanisms.
To bring modern architecture
back to the womb of history also
means reali1ing once and for all that
we must impose new strategies In
order to help detach human culture
from the myth of total development
and of the irrevenibillty of processes.
. -
llflllllt ..... a
........ ""'-"'ad
of._,....._ for the
..............
Jn .... \WY .......
Nlalloa-
tlaip wldt ............. to be DOI
Olll)' remote a""' ...,..._,the
hJpotllelil of a .... .....,_. and
cattial approacla ..,... of etfecthta
mecll...._ of production
Miii- lnCNlllDllY more sound.
modem dty, day bJ day.
makes ua the conlClousnea made
out of various forms of life. In this
aenae the city represents an environ
ment no lea escapist and deformin1
than the coacept or the 'count ry' as
the other aide of the urban medal.
The reconnection of th ... models
or settlement constitutes the objec
tive for a Just rediltrlbutloa of
rnources and fm IM ebolllh ... of
prtvileps. It also constitutes aa
essential objecthoe of knowled1e.
wltblll wbWt .... .... llopea ol
stopping, or at laa of restralnln1.
th conaumptloa precea.
Before sunestinl that architec-
ture. throup d...... could be a
means for lfttet'Yention, I
uaeat that It a mean for the re
search Into tile polliblity of a nn
relatiolllhip beJWeea settlement an ..
nature. And th new relatiomlup
should be a coltlqUellCle of this new
way of lnterpretln1 natuN u tbt
'other capital' Wd must rec:lt.oa
not the lnllalte ..modlllt
but the Rake dt)< we mu
eatabUlb new alllaaoea with.
But, tll now, wllat ...... ., baa
our culture pwa et MW..,_.
uncler ...,.... HCll
mON beJoM lr&Mi!l ul COlldltiam
ot 'a.,_
out of 't
trade, Along thoae walu people build
their own house1, buildlng1 for public
uae, worklltop1, markeu, a:hool8,
and pla1 for recreation, a they
alway1 had been doing and wUl be
doing two Cf!nturle1 later in the city
nf Philadelphia In Penn1ylvama,
They build comfortable homes,
planned with a lllmple "'6ic, pro.
vtded with porches and gardens, and
they alternate the uae of the 11>a
with public uae1 without amb1Rui1y,
making clear what belong1 to the
prlvat<' a11d what belnngs to the
'"'' til!C' lift'.
1 'ht're Is a lu'lfc parlc which Is
built by restorlnl( the alley formed
during the construction of the
ancwnt Alf1fere Serviano centunes
lwfon'. '/7:t're are trnplcr:I plant on
the bottom of the wlllt!y and mountain
tret' on the top of the mound.
Durirtll holiday , people fly lclte1
from the top of the parlc, They haWt
allo built conal1 which him around
the IO{t Undulation of the llte, The
aqueduct adds new water whlclt ha
fomrJ a ltuwe latte IUOulld tlte "'Uu
of the TINnnat batlt1, a e:iri.1U1o11
of the part wltlclt u ll#d for .,...,.
mntt ad boalllw, wltllt! ,,.. lllOflb
of Saitta Marla d.,,,, A,..11,,. #ldr
chants in their prerwd churdt.
77te wall , wit/eh do llOt ltaw to
defend anynllt! any lofwrr, fel tlttt
city. Within them, compuwrl#dpifM.
U-1 ha..e been hilt to /ftd food
and lflOtt!ricU _.df!d by flN lfN!rbfa
_,, the "''*Mapa ,.,.,,.,.,.,.,,,,...,,
alonw tltt! Pf!""'n.r of tlw Mlolir
cltJI. TIN "11t:e ._ .._ 111......,
wltlt ,.,.., tot.,,. 6ooMa .,,,,,,,,,.
"" _,.,,.,.,._ tllu1 teducln6 tlte ltftd
for llflhiclq whit ,,_.,,, '""- on IM
drffQ.
A tMciNd to tltt! ...as alld to dJtt
,,.,.,.... ,,..,,,.... ... .,$ ... ,..,
IOWMI dw,..,,,, OOIUdrJ! ,,,. -.it
"' ........... , ..............
................. ..,
~
"--S..LoNwwwa....._
t. lhdltlbv of l t l t ~ al Mir.,.
,,,,,. "" ""' -" #liool, pla
ttllwte _,,__ ""' ..,,,,.,.. to ,,,,,,
.,.. to ,,,. - ... '"' l#llod
,,,.,.,, .,,,.,,,.,. ,,._, ,,,. dty wll
Ill * ...,,., prw,_. ,,..,_,,for tit
11/'t! perfe I ltU OM1 ,.,,,,,, IO 4/To
tit urban Nib q tt.
wltll Ida /dlow "'itwa.
.,.,.,. /lwmeworfc of tlw Mell
city a1lltl ..,/"""'"'II tM Pto/1161
~ "' tit trodltloul ,.,.It
tit uu Ill WWII. wort
,,.,..,,. wltlt ,,.. ,,.,.,,., cl
,,,,,_,.. ,_ twoMri
S LVIA DANESI
USES
OF THE
ANTIQUE
In the decades followmg the return <'f papal power
fror.i Avignon to Rome the various popes' literary
men refer almo>st constantly in their communi-
cations with the pontiffs to thi: tlaeme of
'Rertauratio lmperii' (the Reltoration or the
Empire); to the necessity of safegu.irding ancient
b !!'h ......................... , ... , 'lthllr
dallllue .......... the pmctice of ........ in
lllldlllt ....._ or bamiBg tlaem ro. lime, to the
.... ,or ,.._Mdhat11e 1om.,....._..c.uqaa
Flllce, AOlpla v...-.., etc:), _. to- .... Rome
...... 1ta CllldmJ.,.,....,. or,.... Italy. n.e
niteaew ..... ._ ,.,.. acceplalce of lome's
extalonlinuy Clllhual ........._
Tiie 'JWil'tb or aatiqalty", tllea, --. puti
... I UL I'll.. ia Ila a- coate t. la
" ........................ lome .......
........ JI ?Ill to CM ...... of the lrclli-
tlCI a - al culblae (II aaderllood by
....... c111 ... ltill .... pli&ecl ill the Prix de
ao..), .... the laflllence the City had on
Allldl, 8 11h. _. otllea, _, ' h of
Rome ..... ...ace the hiltorical empll8lls or
Plot......... 't mcldlectme,
Tiie work or lbldyiDg dd aeconliaa antiquity
of ........ ad .......... fonnal Rlpertoire
......... out by a few arddtec:ls. pmiaten, ad
ICl9olan declicatecl to a new 11:1ence the ltudy or
alliqllily. The meetillg or ,..,_ thn1e comple-
....wy apprwhes to the psublem or....,,_,..,
the clalical ...,..... had definite COlllellaeallel
for an:ldtec:ture.
If clMlidsm II 1U11 as a murco or typea. 'then it
II tbJOUlh d.........., aacl ........,2illa aatiqtlity
by ..., ..... II that ........ -.nble or lllOdels
to be lmllated. (I mull aota bele that I .. tbe
terms ..,,.. and 'model' .. detlaecl by Quatre..a.e
de QulncJ and adopted by G C Arpn.)
Tbk ucly or mtiqaMy wa the cnetift'
ll:holalldp wldcll permitted asddtectlue in tbe
IStb 0111tmJ a .,.... ,......hm ad _,....
IDllltatlDa far ....... ,_die riPI,...... of
die , ...... "9ldm7 - ., ... ., tbat.....,...,
Tafml. la ..... 10 to .......,, ..,.._ el CM de-
IJlllhlltliio (II: 111e ..,,,._ or 'nt> or
the aclllNii:t.. or the ...., period 1a coalnlt,
Tlais text hu been edited from a tmullatioll by
Maiperite Scaife ol a mcNe detaled and extellliwty
footaoeed ... , by SilYia DaJleli tided: '11ae
..... or Rome u Symbol llld lntennediuy or Che
Continuity or Aatiqllity in ArdUtectue or the
15Ch llld 16th centuries'.
Humani tic phase of ar1:hitecturt encompas.ed
a detailed recon truction of amiqui!y - not only
of typ.>logies, but also of their use and the life
styles they accommodated.
These re ... on truction of antiquity tended to
revive Roman structure as p ych<'logical places'.
Wilhoat this 'paychc+>Var CODteld, apea
Foclloo, die llPirft or a p11ce would be Ol*I ..s
eluM would be wbat Alrln
Rolli C8ls 'die thrill of mcient wodd.
Wllat I lbould lib to ..._ ...... m....
the iaflueace tbe aotiquanam luld ia bllltllll&
billory iDlo die domaio of ......._ md bow the
faeqMOt ..,..... to die .... in the ....,
*etches of the perioll (a few or whida UI RlplO-
dllClld ..._), .-bed flOlll the circuJatioll of the
................... 4lnnriDp. baYel ...... and
adl of tllele few men.
One llKfl cua ii the ...._ of die Codice
lalarcaaoft which .. att"'8ted to Cidlco
1 AllCI08I. In it are repn>daced landmarb of an
h .... .,. ftNlte .......... - die - ......
llltcned to. faatlllllc ....... of .. ....
Ewa the 'in ....... bldldillp or the Clwca
..... ..- or papier....W, ....ty for the..._
or. beu.r 11iD. to "8 lDDlported oa ...,... .....
the ....as of wbao tlteatre ..S ..,.._... ....
which hqueatly occuned la the l Sdl cmt1117
(aml whidl rec:alled the !peetada of .......
Rome). Yet dra .... by suiaoae del Follllolo.
dlltillg ffOlll around 1489. lbow how ucertaill dd
empirical the matax for compotiag die ......... or
utiqulty 1111 ....
Howewr. this libudoa .......... I)' la
149' ........ lift ................ ..
Vaml ........... the ........ PllfPOle 'to U.. of
his owa--. .... Wlil11110t w....., .....
... to, at .. -.-............
ltrudlll9I or ltom9 Allll befolW bw .. 11111
mr , ... .., ... .,.M .... ia dllt cil7 _. ia
tllen 'iasCOOllbylhle , ... a,..
... Thull..... Mrfloa,... .....
IDOCl-ofll,
-.a tbil Oma Gia
ol a 1W ...... ot n.tt.1o,..,..
.......... la JSll ia V..._) ,_. ...........
mostly details, for a book on Roman antiquities of
which Vaciri writes, 'Fra Giooe>ndo dedicatf'.d
many of his youthful year to the study of ancient
things, not only the structures, out also the tomb
inscriptions, and other ancient works, and not
only in Rome, but in the
FJOm tJds boot. Ge ..., -= one can
deduce tllat PD GiaNloodo ... la lw belweee
1471 .., flom 1497 to 14", lo the ... two,_..
or hll llfe (died 1515) .. dlreceld t1te ..,....acma
of St reters with ....._.aodGidmtda.....,,
..SoaeofllilUawilp ..... a.0018"llilltoltawe
beea done Rapllael's .._.
1'llil ...... me '11 ., ........ ofmtiquily
w directed ..S ZW I llF ..... L Ami ii II
he wllo, in a...,.,.._ lllW to rope Leoa X
(1510), ............... ., ....,... tbat
...............................
plaa. ....... .a .... llllr ..... llliL II was
....... to ............ M:m ...... p_..,
.... Mum .. &a .., .. ....,ftftilallilY
- 'abtoat....... .....
arr rab.,,
Tiie ... a:lioi of ...... I'll ..........
beea .... to....,oot..,_111 ue
.... .....,....... .. ... ...,
,._........ ..... ...
a1 _,.,. for 11'"'181 a flillll? ' b the
.......... die Colom 1zaw ,......,. llaRielo
... the SeptilooD.
........ m , ... ., ..,.,a
.................... 6om
the Age of II I todaJ
.___ It olfen ... ..... .... to ....
q1llly ...... .. "'
die .... of.... .. lift
wllllof .. ......
/lnUUflte p..,,,tJCtlN Mdt:#I Of dte lluW Nf
M:l1a of tit Ba/Ill of Conltdlltln& se
lkdla of /IN di/I.,., RlllwllM,_ _,,,.
Gtulu1110 da Sang11llo the theatre of MlllUlba.
Becauu the ucond lank floor did not /II 011 the Fftl Gioconda mauureme11t1 uf Nrio&u comlca,
ptl6e, Sangallo drew II a1 a ruin p/lment1, bau, copltah. Anonymuus. the Settizonw, I 6th century
"
which to derive lessons for the typical. Each city vividly superimposes
elements of a supranational scale on the local fabric: churches in the re-
ligious capital, casinos and their signs in the entertainment capital.
These cause violent juxtapositions of use and s(:ale in both cities.
Rome's churches, off streets and piazzas, are open to the public; the
pilgrim, religious or architectural, can walk fro in dHirch to church. The
gambler or architect in Las Ve similarl ' Lak
a ino alo th trap l ,f L g
mental and mon m nt n ding publi ,
b nk and r ilro d a
c1t1 .. olli map of th mid i
and comple con c on
(Fig l 7). Pri te building i
into by th public pac
roofed,
churcnc:.
q
Al lhas lace we W'lll
Mulcahy lo both his foot ole and
hia fan1uie . To u1 he has provided
an indispensable guide; but he has
also lefl us in the posilion or old
faahioned clusical archaeolo&i t
attempting to re.:on5truct a shattered
monumenl or 1latue from the m<111
fragmenluy debris and, while ii has
been u1eru1, has information 1s some
limes a lillle too selective for our
purposes. I hu , while he make hnef
rererence lo the monumental ceme
l!!rY of the lllustn 1m1, I ather
Muk11h 1s lrangely relic< 111 ahout
further developm.-111 on the l' ho
which Val11d1er' propo5als seem lo
have pon orcd. We refer lo: the elc
gant ()uarllcre Malle1, achieved with
out ;my grc11I mutilatmn or lhc Villa
Mattei itself, to the sequence of
spaces (the presenl l'iaua <.iluseppe
Terraani and Larao C11ttaneo) leadma
In from lhe l'olosaeum, lo Von
Klenze' manipulation of Santo Sier
ano which have oflen been considered
doubtful, and then, and unlike our
Jesuit aulde, we 1uuest thal the ume
uchltect'a Accademla Uavarese, loca
fed tmmecttately lo the rear or lhe
cbutch In the former vtana of tbe
Collqio Germanlco, II a buildlna
A I"""""
J (,real Terra of the Av 111111.-
2 Sunto Sp1r110 della Re laur.tl1one
J Villa Casamu 1m11
4 Alher1111 th ltu 111
5 Orio Dotanico
11 l'alaZ7.t> dci ('avahcr1
7. Palazzo l aetll 1a
In the public park, the l'mcta dcl
Monie Te laccao, which
mlo the area, and to the e<1ucncc uf
vlll111 and other hualdmg vaguely
re ailing C1iulm Kom11no, l'1rro Ligurio
and C laud ... Nicola I edou \\ h1ch.
n 1111: nul ul lhc1r untc I n1 lrcc .
comprbe the IUUlh we tern o:nclo urc
of the C'ircu Mnlmu Hut. even
f
2J
'lbe Stratesr of Fngments
Within the site, each hill ropraents a separate
prototypical mucture.
1 The Aventine as an ideal city, (17): its actual
plan is a deformation of this, retaining the closed
perimeter and open centre, (18).
2 The Palatine as megastructure: its figural core
stabilises a variety of edges, (19). The actual plan
shows the specific perimeter adaptions, (20), and
the axonometric indicates poSllible internal growth.
The spatial structure of garden parterrC6 solidify
into urban blocks, transforming a palace into an
elaborate urhan texture, (21).
3 The Celio as a hilltown of rationalised space
linked to a central piazza at St Stefano Rotondo,
(22); the actual plan also shows an ancient Roman
collision of monumental figures, (23). This hill-
town prei:umably extends u a field to St John the
Lateran 4
24
35
40
38
The Tactics of Connection
Within the site, various methods are used to form
connections and transitions between the separate
pieces.
I Interpenetration of fields: the overlapping of edges
and patterns between fields establishes a multiplicity
of relationships, (35).
2 Continuity of texture: all continuity wi!h the
existing Roman centre must be stretched through
the narrow bottleneck of the r. rum Boararbm.
The existir.g texture is extend, tnd rechannelled.
Before, (36), after, (3 7).
3 Public landscape: the structure be!ween the
separate hill fragments is a system of interstitial
gardens an<l trees, (38).
4 The Italian gardt:n generates h:xture: the existing
gardens of the Villa Mattei provide a pattern for
urbanism. Befort" and after, (39i; air view, (40).
5 The French ga1den as model: superimp'Jsed on
the city as con cinuity, not authority, it becomes a
starting point for extensions - space breaks out of
the site but retains its local origins. The garden
becomes an alternative urban strategy, (41).
l
~ . : : n I Q ~ ~
\,'- ' e.__:: I
J7
41