Location: Rome, Italy
Date: June 12 - July 9, 2001
Course/credit: "Architecture in Other Cultures", 6 credits in ARCH 6520
Cost estimate: $3,100
Deadline: April 1, 2002
Prerequisite: ?
Contact: OIE or professor Luis Summers, summers@spot.colorado.edu
Location
"Now let us, by a flight of imagination, suppose that
Rome is not a human habitation but a psychical entity with a similarly long
and copious past-an entity, that is to say, in which nothing that has come into
existence will have passed away and all earliest phases of existence continue
to exist along side the latest one. This would mean that in Rome the palaces
of the Caesars and the Septizonium of Septimus Severus would be rising to their
old height on the Palatine and that the Castle of S. Angelo would still be carrying
on its battlements the beautiful statues which graced it until the siege by
the Goths, and so on. But more than this...on the Piazza of the Pantheon we
should find not only the Pantheon of today, as it was bequeathed by Hadrian,
but, on the same site the original edifice erected by Agrippa; indeed the same
piece of ground would be supporting the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva
and the ancient temple over which it was built. And the observer would perhaps
only have to change the direction of his glance or his position in order to
call up the one view or the other." - Sigmund Freud A number of years ago, Collin
Rowe, in writings and lectures, established a critical connection between modern
architecture and traditional urbanism. Using the example of Rome to develop
a theory of diverse urban ordering in contrast to utopian, or modernist planning
proposals, these ideas and thoughts have gained acceptance among leading urban
designers and architects. In the current architectural and urban debate, the
Italian city, and Rome in particular, has been enlisted by both conservatives,
lead by the Krier brothers, and those supporting more radical theories such
as Peter Eisenman. Rome, as the center of stable western traditions as well
as an example of the most romantic and individualistic forms of expression,
demonstrates possible coexistence of both views. As has been the tradition over
the centuries, a formal study of the city can only broaden the education of
the architect, the planner, and the landscape architect.
Course and Credits Information
Participants will receive 6 credits in architecture.
Both undergraduate and graduate credit is available. The course is a study/travel
and lecture combination. The focus will be on Urban Design and the historical
layering of a contemporary city such as Rome. The study course will start with
the early rational and sometimes haphazard growth of Rome during the empire,
proceed to the shrinking of the city in medieval times, continue through the
Renaissance with the city of the Popes then go on to the relinquishing of ownership
by the Popes to the Italian Republic and end in the study of today's modern
metropolis. A formal set of lectures by the US and Rome faculty will set all
historical precedents for the proposed layered urban analysis. Visits to hill
towns such as Montepulcino, Todi, Civita de Bagno Reggio, as well as to Renaissance
landscaped villas such as Villa Farnese, Villa Lante and Tivoli, coupled with
archeological tours of Ostia Antica, Hadrian's Villa, Pompei/Herculaneum/Cumae,
will constitute the study/tour component. Visits to the surrounding sites will
be integral to an understanding of the history of Rome's development through
time. The course will begin in Colorado with meetings where each student will
be assigned buildings, urban design spaces, and/or gardens to research. Italian
civilization, history and context will be covered. Also survival language skills,
cultural orientation and background information will be covered. The class in
Rome will begin on June 12 and end July 9 four weeks later. Class will meet
Tuesdays through Fridays from 9:00 am until 5:00 pm except for the four 12 hour
all day bus excursions. There will also be an occasional meeting on the week-ends
to see buildings that are only open during that time. There will be a midterm
exam and a final. Upon returning to Denver there will be time allotted to complete
final projects. Students will have a choice as to the format, i.e.: drawings
with explanations or papers.
Accommodation
Accommodations will be arranged in shared apartments
in the ancient center of Rome, on the Campo de Fiori.
Transportation
The costs associated with transportation to and from
Denver and within the Amiens area are not included in the cost of the program.
Airfare averages $700-$1,000. International Education will assist the students in making arrangements for the flight to Rome or students may contact travel agents of their own.
Program costs
Approximately $ 3,100 (including $300 deposit payable
to CU-Denver) which includes classrooms, studio and library in a Palazzo (Roman
Medieval Palace); shared apartments with kitchen in the ancient center of Rome,
on the Campo de Fiori; instruction; bus tours; most entry fees to monuments
and museums and special dinners; health and medical insurance for the trip (provided
with an ISIC card).
Program fee does not include inter-European travel, airfare, and most meals.