I’ve just tried the new AI assistant that Rome launched. It’s pretty good. I just asked when the Pantheon opens tomorrow and got the right answer plus some other information, but not too much. I then asked about the Pantheon’s construction and got an exhaustive and quite well formulated answer very quickly. Amazing. However, once I asked some more polemical questions it (she?) was less willing to engage in conversation. …
Recently the Rome City Council approved the Detailed Traffic Plan “Historic Center”, which identifies 6 environmental islands – Portico d’Ottavia, Navona, Pantheon, Tridente, Trevi-Quirinale and Ansa Barocca (the area right outside the Borromini Center). But central Rome already has a number of these “ecological islands” long declared car-free but in fact often filled with cars. Without enforcement there’s little point in announcing virtuous plans. Sure, we would love to see …
In the hopes of helping others reduce the stress of updating their Italian Permesso di Soggiorno I’m jotting down an account of what I did today and how it could have been easier. A big part of the problem is a poorly designed and probably mostly unnecessary bureaucratic process which I’m not going to try to fix. But another part of the problem was my own lack of preparation which …
Living out the pandemic in Rome has given me time to reflect and re-evaluate my weekly routine. Before automatically reintroducing patterns from BC (before covid), I stopped to ask myself if I really missed them. When the answer was no, I made some changes.
I’ve left Rome for three destinations this summer, each time coming back with newfound appreciation and newfound frustration for my adopted home. A week in Abruzzo, leading a summer school in the village of Castelvecchio Calvisio, was a pleasant retreat from the noise and heat of the city. Walking from the nearly empty village out into the countryside was a joy, but the lack of broadband internet grew tiresome quickly. …
We encounter great projects more and more frequently in our real and virtual explorations and I’ve always wanted to file them away for future reference and to share with students and colleagues. So I’m going to start linking and commenting here with the occasional blog post, categorized according to the sustainable city themes that are applied: water, green, mobility, waste, urban fabric, energy, or community, plus tags for the geographical …
This will almost certainly be a multi-post series as the Architecture Biennale contains far too much for a short post and our short attention spans. In this first post, some background and general impressions, and a promise to follow up with more specific accounts of the installations, research stations and national pavilions. I first experienced the Biennale in 1985, and I remember seeing Aldo Rossi’s “Progetto Venezia” gateway and wandering …
Yesterday I checked out the restoration in progress at the Mausoleo di Augusto, Augustus’ tomb. I was lucky to get in. On December 21st, when they launched the invitation to Roman residents to join free guided tours, I had jumped online and booked before they “sold” out. Now they’ve extended booking through the summer but it is again sold out. The 50-minute tour was well-organized and the group of about …
A year ago this week I attended the last social event pre-pandemic, a vernissage of an exhibit of ceramics at my studio/gallery space. And then for a few days I lived in paranoia as it became clear that the Coronavirus was spreading at events like that. Thankfully no one took ill there, but for the next two months we watched the country, and the world change. Lockdown turned my vibrant …
Buon anno, happy new year, auguri, yada yada yada* and good riddance to 2020. Like most Italians we stayed home in the family, respecting the Covid-19 lockdown and the ban on fireworks. From the explosive sound of our neighborhood, this ban was about as well-enforced as parking regulations. For the past few years Rome has put on a pretty impressive New Year’s Festival but this year they had to think …