Mapping the Void: Landscapes of Roman Travertine Extraction

Roman Travertine is the stone of the empire, it has characterised the city of Rome, and unexpectedly conditioned the Tiburtine hinterlands. This thesis reveals the hidden scars and enduring legacies of material extraction on landscapes, centering on the ancient yet persistently exploited Roman travertine quarries near Rome. Unfolding the tension between rugged extraction sites and polished urban spaces, the study critiques architecture’s reliance on a “Western Paradox” where development and destruction coexist. It places the landscape discinpline right in the middle, an accomplice and an active actor in the consequences of material consumption, attempting to answer the question: How can the landscape discipline represent the ecological and social conflicts caused by resource extraction, and what impact does extraction have on how landscapes are understood? Through political ecology and interdisciplinary analysis, it unearths the rich ecological, historical, and political narratives surrounding travertine, attempting to reveal its consequences through a mapping project. In three sections, the research first establishes the theoritical framework, addresses Necropolitics of Extraction, exposing architecture’s detachment from the material realities of production and spotlighting the social and environmental costs of material consumption. The second section, Lapis Tiburtinus, turns to travertine itself, tracing its symbolic and structural roles across millennia, from shaping Rome’s grandeur to a globalized commodity that transformed its landscapes. The final section, Mapping Travertine Extraction, uses dynamic cartographies of water, waste, and labour to bring the invisible forces of extraction into stark relief, illustrating both local devastations and global dependencies.