The “Glimpse Series” offers a closer view of the AAR community’s current Rome Prize winners by delving further into their studios or studies, their daily routines or work in progress. The scholarly and artistic work being pursued continues to be as varied as the fellowship recipients themselves. The following “Glimpse” focuses on Lonn Combs, principal architect at EASTON + COMBS in New York, assistant professor at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute School of Architecture, and the Gorham P. Stevens Rome Prize Fellow in Architecture.
Describe a particularly inspiring moment or location you've experienced in Rome thus far.
For me, the Basilica of San Clemente in Rome is probably the most important and most inspiring site. The twelfth-century Basilica is impressive on its own, but once inside you can descend into two major sub levels that date back to the early Holy Roman Empire and the Imperial Roman periods respectively. The site survives two thousand years and the earliest foundations reveal a temple centered on the Persian cult of Mithras. It’s a powerful reminder of the history and complexity of the city as well as the depth of the sacred space and its urban history.
To what extent, if any, has your proposed project changed since your arrival?
Being able to visit the archives and the building projects of Pier Luigi Nervi has had a tremendous effect on the way I think about his work and the existing research. Taken as a body of work, Nervi’s contribution has not yet been fully translated and incorporated into current considerations in architecture. The systems that he explored are revolutionary yet obvious on one level and offer many lessons today.
What strikes me in particular is that conceptually, Nervi’s ferrocemento technique is less about concrete and more about building with frozen fabric. That correlation has had a considerable impact on the evolution of my fellowship research. Moreover, understanding his buildings in the context of Rome reveals the many traditions he was building on. The post-war era of the 1950s was an enormously productive period for Italy but it was also challenging. Resources were limited and the entire country was transitioning to an industrialized and modern nation state. Nervi’s buildings and construction methods really reflect that aspiration as well as the realities and demands of building efficiently, economically, and, ultimately, very quickly.
What's surprised you most about living in Rome?
Rome is such a rich place, honestly I was in no way prepared for the layering of histories throughout the city. It’s also remarkably compact, to the point where you walk by the same sites many times and can still make discoveries. It’s as if the fabric of the city hides its best-kept secrets in plain sight. Only the routine of daily life here can begin to unravel the complexity. I now understand why Rome is a city one visits again and again, always to find something new.
How have you managed the balance between your work and engagement with Rome and Italy? This balance is never the same for any two Fellows.
The environment at the Academy is perfect for developing and focusing one’s work. I suppose it’s about managing and refining that focus while pursuing one’s curiosities. The traveling I’ve done here and beyond the context of Rome seems to be self reinforcing in that as these experiences slowly build up, they begin to affect my research. It constantly feeds and informs my work.
What's your favorite dish in the RSFP kitchen?
The RSFP is the best-kept secret of Academy life. Although, I have never been disappointed, I must say that the roast chicken dinner on “family night” (Friday nights) cannot be missed.
How do you anticipate your Rome Prize Fellowship will influence future work?
The Rome Prize has allowed me to engage in a kind of creative gap. On the one hand my work and research continues, but on the other there is an important distance it affords, and a chance to retrospectively learn from much of my thinking over the last several years. There’s no doubt that this experience will influence the trajectory of my creative discipline. It’s certainly helped me reaffirm the importance of experimentation, testing, prototyping and research—and that can only improve my practice back home.