We have enjoyed the shade and safety of the pines of Rome at the American Academy in Rome for more than a century. Yet, with a deadly parasite weakening and killing these trees, we must now answer the unanswerable—will we have to imagine a Rome without these iconic trees as part of the panorama? 

At this seminar, seven experts with seven different visions, seven different relationships with the pines of Rome will discuss the future of the landscape and the shape of the city. The first half of the event will be individual presentations by landscape architects, historians, and art historians providing the context, content, and challenges to these questions. The second half will be a Conversations|Conversazioni with botanists, landscape architects, and artists talking about the future of the pines of Rome.

Speakers include:

• Thaïsa Way (2016 Fellow, 2023 Resident), Director, Garden and Landscape Studies, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collections; Professor Emerita, Landscape Architecture, College of Built Environments, University of Washington
• Lara Pucci, Assistant Professor in Art History, University of Nottingham 
• Phoebe Lickwar (2022 Fellow), Associate Professor and Graduate Advisor, Landscape Architecture, University of Texas at Austin 
• Peter Benson Miller, curator, scholar, and AAR’s Andrew Heiskell Arts Director (2013–19) Alessandra Vinciguerra, American Academy in Rome Bass Superintendent of Gardens 
• Miranda Mote (2024 Fellow), Visiting Assistant Professor, School of Architecture, Pratt Institute; Lecturer, Program in Architecture, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania 
• Alessandra Vinciguerra, AAR Bass Superintendent of Gardens
• Giulia Caneva, Professor of Environmental and Applied Botany, Department of Science, Roma Tre

Download a PDF of the event program to learn more about the speakers and their presentations.

This event, to be presented in person at the Academy as well as on Zoom, is free and open to the public.

As a supplement to the workshop, material from the Photographic Archive of the American Academy in Rome will be displayed in the cryptoporticus as Nostri Pini di Roma: Recollections and Possibilities. The images gather an exceptional documentation of the work of scholars and artists who worked at or with the American Academy in Rome for over a century. This material represents Rome and its surroundings, often with the pine trees standing as guardians over the archaeological treasures.

The photographs exhibited are a selection from the Esther Van Deman Collection, the Library Collection, the Landscape Collection, the Masson Collection, and the more recent donation from Jeannette Montgomery Barron.

The Photographic Archive of the American Academy in Rome consists of several specialized collections of photographs on Roman archaeology, as well as resources on medieval and modern art, architecture, and landscape architecture.