Forme dell’abitare a Roma. Echi dell’antico nell’architettura del primo Novecento

The book collects all the papers submitted at the multidisciplinary symposium promoted within the framework of Sapienza university research project Forms of living in Rome. Echoes of antiquity in the architecture of the early twentieth century (directed by Prof. Simona Benedetti on behalf of the Department of History, Design and Restoration of Architecture). The conference aimed to focus its attention on the topic of Rome’s modern residential architecture, considering the impact of the early twentieth century archaeological discoveries on the design of the new neighborhoods outside the Aurelian Walls. Never as at that time, housing history was influenced by the rediscovery of entire blocks of ancient houses. The archaeological excavations of Ostia – particularly the blocks of flats unearthed by Dante Vaglieri (1865-1913) and, later, by Guido Calza (1888-1946) and Italo Gismondi (1887-1974) in the first post-war period – had repercussions on the architectural design, and this interest affected both the linguistic-formal level and the compositional one. Consequently, the conference dealt with issues related to separate disciplinary areas by comparing different approaches and scholar’s backgrounds (archaeologists, architectural historians, and architects) in order to open a transversal debate. In this way, it was possible to investigate the influence of archeology on the so-called Italian other modernity: a critical expression already introduced in the conference of the Center for the History of Architecture in 2007 (proceedings published in 2010), which foreshadowed the present debate thanks to forward-looking insights now discussed in their specific cultural context.

Il volume raccoglie gli interventi presentati da numerosi studiosi italiani e stranieri al convegno dal titolo: "Forme dell’abitare a Roma. Gli echi dell’antico nell’architettura del primo Novecento", svoltosi a Roma nel novembre 2021; iniziativa parte del progetto di ricerca finanziato dall’Università degli Studi di Roma “Sapienza”, coordinato da Simona Benedetti del Dipartimento di Storia, Disegno e Restauro dell’Architettura. Il convegno ha approfondito e indagato svariate tematiche finora afferenti ad ambiti disciplinari diversi, coinvolgendo archeologi, storici dell’architettura, architetti, in un dibattito trasversale che ha tentato di comprendere meglio le ricadute dell’interesse per l’Antico nell’architettura abitativa dei primi decenni del Novecento, produzione definibile criticamente come esito dell’«Altra modernità» italiana. Tra i contributi sono presenti anche saggi dedicati ad architetture e ambiti territoriali non romani che testimoniano l’analoga influenza dell’Antico nella formulazione progettuale delle nuove sperimentazioni costruttive novecentesche.