Brandon Clifford

Brandon Clifford

Founders Rome Prize
September 8, 2017–July 27, 2018
Profession
Assistant Professor, School of Architecture and Planning, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Project title
Ghosts of Rome
Project description

When a red granite obelisk was transported from Egypt and erected in St. Peter’s Square, a massive spectacle surrounded the armature and celebration of its assumed final positioning. Not only is little known of the megalith’s origin, little is also known of this spectacular effort. The ghost of this knowledge intentionally erased in favor of a mystical understanding of power. I am fascinated with erasures of knowledge, for the potentials they offer through contemporary manifestations. Rome is full of ghosts; of which I am most interested in three types—petrification, spectacle, and spatial. This proposal seeks to exercise a series of Roman translations, through conversations with fellow collaborators. Not only is Rome an ideal incubator for mining these pockets of knowledge, but also the social and cross-disciplinary conversations that emerge through the residency are an ideal scenario for such a research method. What kinds of architectures emerge when the ghosts of Rome manifest today?