Cool off in the shade of pine trees, feeling the breeze waft across the hills from the Apennines to the Mediterranean. Duck into centuries old churches for a lesson in passive cooling: the masonry walls are so thick the heat won’t reach the interior until the end of summer! Or descend back in time into one of the many underground archeological sites: the temperature stays a cool 15 degrees C. …
One great way of reflecting on Rome is to go elsewhere for a few days and then come back. For the past couple of days that place has been Brescia and Lake Iseo, site of Christo’s latest site-specific art work, Floating Piers (and I’m writing on the train back toward the Capital).
Villa Borghese and the Modern City Of the many public parks in Rome none is better known than the Villa Borghese which comprises nearly 200 acres to the north of the Spanish Steps. Long the property of the wealthy and noble Borghese family, the gardens were purchased by the Italian state after the unification of Italy and make public in 1903 and are today a destination for those seeking green space, …
Roma: 2025: Ideas for the New Metropolis At MAXXI recently (18 December 2015) 25 projects were unveiled for 25 quadrants of greater Rome. Inspired by the 1978 Roma Interrotta project exhibit which saw 12 international architects address the planning of Rome’s historical center, this initiative, titled Rome 20-25: New Life Cycles for the Metropolis addressed the city at a much larger scale. 12 foreign universities, plus 12 Italian ones were invited to work on …
The language we use to talk about cities charts a map of our urban world-views. Defensive cities became Mercantile cities which then became Industrial cities, described by Dickens and depicted by Dore’ as smoggy and blight-ridden, invoking thinkers like Ebenezar Howard to envision Garden cities. In the late 20th century, as heavy industry left cities people began to rediscover the joys of urban living, new terms emerged: Jane Jacobs’ Open …