ROME: The history of stitching : DAY 5: The Walls

Friday 11 July 2014

DAY 5: The Walls

05.07.2014

Traffic around the Wall. Aurelian Walls, 282AD

The walls are a rather romantic reminder of the historical boundaries of the city of Rome. Over the years they have been not only superseded but embraced as an unquestionable element of urban fabric.

The modern city permeates through these remains without a forced admiration that is given to some other historical leftovers. Cars are parked against the Aurelian walls constructed in 282 AD. The homeless build their cardboard homes in the cosy openings of the wall. Later constructed churches use the city wall as one of their walls. Restaurants, palazzos and apartment blocks also rest against the wall.

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About me in Rome

I have been awarded Nicholas Boas Scholarship and I spent July 2014 at the British School at Rome. As unbelievable as it may sound, I have never been to this architectural Mecca and as a recent diploma graduate from the Architectural Association I come with a clear agenda. At least that is what I thought I had. Rome has in many ways surprised me. The agenda is not as clear and I will not share my research abstract yet. This diary will over time capture and help me define the aspect of Rome’s architecture that I am interested in.

The working title is “The history of stitching”. Historical remains and their urban conditions are the starting point. The first task in exploration of transformative nature of Roman architecture is drawing boundaries between archaeological sites, monuments, architecture and city. This will lead to, on one hand, definition of dead sites, dead architectures, dead city and on the other hand “stitching” techniques through which architecture and elements of the city have survived. This survival is what makes Rome city despite of its numerous “black holes” and scaffolding. The project aims to disclose the city behind its “tombstones” - an X-ray of the aggregated historical fabric of Rome which suggests a strange network of social and physical relationships.