The 2012–13 Walks and Talks at the American Academy are one of the moments of the Academy experience that not only set it apart from its peer institutions, but also form the intellectual basis for shared discussions between artists and scholars. This year, the walks program organized by a chronological introduction to Roman topography and history during the first half of the year and thematically organized walks and trips in the second half.
The chronological walks provided introductions to major monuments and urbanistic moments in Rome’s history, alternating with specialized visits to lesser-known sites. We began with a marathon walk on archaic Rome, from the so-called Romulan hut and wall on the Palatine, down into the Forum to discuss its early history and geology and up the Capitoline to visit the remains of the Capitoline temples. Overviews of the mega-scaled buildings of the High Empire, the transition to a Christian city in late antiquity and the Middle Ages, the churches and urbanistic projects of the Baroque popes, and the expansion of the city after the Risorgimento all followed. A final walk in the series took in the Foro Olympico and Mussolini-period projects that reimagined Rome’s Roman past in a fascist present – a fitting bookend to a series that began with the city’s perpetual fascination with its own origins.
The second half of the year focused on a series of themes common to fellow’s research and creative interests – domestic architecture, death and commemoration, urban industry, and the presentation and management of the past. Fellow Steven Ellis lead a huge group on a memorable day-trip to Pompeii, taking in the houses and shops of the Roman lower classes. A visit to the 1980’s housing project at Corviale provided an interesting set of comparisons. In contrast were a series of visits to houses of the wealthy – from the Villa Madama and Villa Aurora to a weekend trip to Palladian villas in the Veneto and a day-trip to Mannerist villas and gardens in Northern Lazio. An interest in death and commemoration lead fellow Yoko Hara to take a group to family burial chapels at Santa Maria del Popolo, while a beautiful winter walk on the Via Appia took in the tomb and villa of Maxentius and the tomb of Cecelia Metella. The issue of industry in and around cities led us to a disparate series of sites, united by shared themes of infrastructure, pollution and working class neighborhoods. Two transects through the suburbs – one down the Via Ostiense that took in Montemartini power station and museum, the market project of Rem Koolhaus and Garbatella, and a second down the via Casalina that discussed ad hoc housing the Pigneto neighborhood and ancient manufacturing sites – emphasized the continuity of industrial activity in the soborghi from ancient to modern times. Two visits to aqueducts – one lead by advisor Gianni Ponti down into the Aquae Marcia and Claudia and a second into the newly opened excavations near the Trevi Fountain – provided more detailed views of Roman water power. Finally, many of these walks took on the problem of how the past is presented and preserved in modern Italy – from the light-and-sound show in the Roman houses beneath the Palazzo Valentini to the ever-closed Mausoleum of Augustus, the issue of cultural heritage management ever-present. A day-trip to see two archaeological parks with radically different approaches to these problems – Vulci and Cosa – spurred energetic debates about the importance of pedagogy and public education in cultural heritage management.
As part of a broader effort to work more closely with our peer institutions in Rome, we organized three joint walks: a walk through Testaccio with Dutch affiliated fellow Leonid Tsvetkov and the Royal Dutch Institute, a discussion on ancient sculpture at the Palazzo Altemps with members of the Deutsches Archäeologisches Institut, and a day trip of contemporary architecture with the Villa Massimo. In both cases fellows were able to connect with their peers and share perspectives and knowledge.
With over 35 walks, day-trips and overnights over the course of the year, the Walks and Talks program spurred dozens of conversations and debates, a shared discourse that shaped fellows research, creative work and collaborations with one another. Thus, the Walks not only served to introduce the Academy community to the city of Rome, but they formed the intellectual grist for a mill of extraordinary scholarly and artistic activity that marked this most vibrant and productive year.