The December 2011 conference entitled “Paradigm and Progeny: Roman Imperial Architecture and Its Legacy” concluded with an installment of the Academy series Conversations That Matter, moderated by American Academy in Rome Director Christopher S. Celenza (1994 Fellow) and John Pinto. Participants included: Laurie Olin (1974 Fellow, 1990 and 2008 Resident), landscape architect and partner at OLIN in Philadelphia; Frederick Fisher (2008 Fellow), architect and partner at Frederick Fisher and Partners in Los Angeles; and Stephen Kieran (1981 Fellow), architect and partner at KieranTimberlake in Philadelphia.

The conversation focused on how contemporary architects and designers have been inspired by the classical past and how that inspiration is reflected in their work.