Ephemeral constructions and pyrotechnic machinery. Dialogue between history and representation. Rome in XIX century

Through a lasting period of time between XVI and the beginnings of XX century the arrangement of Catherine wheels and firework displays during important religious and secular festivals represented for the inhabitants of Rome one of the most popular and awaited events of the tradition. The planning and the construction of the pyrotechnical mechanisms in the most suggestive places of the town (St. Peter’s Basilica, the Janiculum Hill, the Coliseum, Castel S. Angelo, Piazza del Popolo with the public gardens of Pincio) kept busy a wide and heterogeneous group of makers including architects, engineers, craftsmen, painters, sculptors and skilful stokers. The tradition of the so called Girandola Romana can be considered a form of total art show in which the urban landscape was transformed by a series of ephemeral architectures, made of different materials (wood, iron, papier-mache and cloth) that were juxtaposed to the monuments’ facades. The contribution aims to analyze some of these impressive pyrotechnic costructions through their different representations: these drawings reproduce in a very sophisticated way the ephemeral scenographies of festivals wisely using methods and techniques of representation. The attention will also be turned to the design strategies of architects and engineers involved in the construction of these phantasmagoric structures. The ability of the designer is essential to understand the functioning of these mechanisms and also to retrace the creative process to the base of a pyrotechnical display with its games of colours and lights.