These conversations took place remotely in November 2020 and were created for the program I teach with California Polytechnic State University. Some of the questions discussed were:
- Should we — and if so how — build in Rome’s historic center today?
- Our project posits the possibility for shared civic space; do you think contemporary society still needs this?
- Social justice and equity is a professed aim of many designers, but is it really possible to achieve through architecture?
- Is it more important that a building be sustainable, meaningful, or beautiful?
Watch the full list of videos at https://tinyurl.com/y623kwst
Urban Realities Series
URBAN REALITIES a video series about Rome’s neighborhoods
Architects and professors of urban studies Pia Schneider and Tom Rankin have completed a series of documentary videos, now available for streaming at no cost. The series recounts the urban development and transformations of modern Rome, from their architectural character to the changing socio-economic realities.
Narrated as on-site explorations with the visual support of historic and analytic maps, archival images and cinematic footage, these ”lessons” are of particular interest to students of architecture and urbanism, but accessible to anyone interested in the complexity of great cities.
The series was produced in the context of a course taught by Rankin and Schneider from 2011 to 2024 for the Iowa State University Rome Program. The course and the documentaries use the medium of film as a tool for both understanding and narrating the zeitgeist and genius loci of Roman quartieri. The analysis of each neighbourhood is supported by a film — for example, Antonioni’s L’Eclisse in EUR, Pasolini’s Mamma Roma in Pigneto or Ferrante’s Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio in Esquilino. Then the students themselves served as cast and crew in the filming and production of the Urban Realities episodes.
Rome Remote Videos
A series of videos I’m shooting during the coronavirus lockdown, in hopes of consoling those who had to cancel trips these days. And to reassure others that life goes on in Rome. Follow my youtube channel to see more.