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ROME – ARCHAEOLOGY, RESTORATION ARCHITECTURE, AND CULTURAL HERITAGE.

The ‘I Fori Imperiali,’ the ‘Alessandrino Quartiere,’ and the ‘Via Dell’ Impero’:

The Documentation and Dissemination of the Scholarly Studies and Related Research (1993-2013).

Martin G. Conde, Washington DC, USA (June 2013). mgconde@yahoo.com

“To be a creditable student of Roman antiquity or the Middle Ages, or Renaissance and Baroque, should presuppose solid familiarity

with Modern Rome, its city archives, contemporary newspapers, journals.”

Prof. Spiro Kostof,

“The Third Rome - The Polemics of Architectural History”.

JSAH, 32.3 (1973), p. 241.

“The plan for the transformation of the area of the Imperial Fora originates from the concern with conservation and improvement

expressed by Archeological Superintendency of Rome. The town planning, historical, architectural and social aspects of the op eration

are perhaps even more significant than the merely archaeological ones. (…) It is only the starting point to get the first phase of the

work going and its needs to be constantly verified, modified and completed on the basis of a continuous social and cultural d ebate

and of the excavation finds as well. (…) The success of the entire project will to a large extent depend on the citizen’s degree of

involvement and participation, during the excavations and later in the use of the archaeological area as a place where people can

meet and pass. Only though a constant exchange of information and ideas will it be possible to bring the project to a satisfactory

completion.”

Prof. Roberto Einaudi, “Il Foro Romano.”in:

Spazio e Società, no 23. Settembre 1983, p. 73.

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“The modern history of the Imperial Fora is above all one of shifting mentalities and conflicts of interest; if we fail to co nsider the

rapid ideological transformations of our century, we cannot comprehend the problems involved archaeological research.” (…) With

new excavations, projects for museums, new circulation plans, after more than sixty years the problem of the Imperial Fora is once

being confronted with different mentality and, above all, with maturity necessary to avoid underestimating the archaeological

delicacy of the historical site and the strategic importance of relation between the environment and the functioning city, touching on

a crucial node of the contemporary urban system.”

Dr. Silvana Rizzo,

“Archaeology of the Imperial Fora,” in:

ZODIAC-Architectural Magazine, no. 17, March | August, 1997, pg. 56.

"...Knowledge and documentation are indispensable practices for efficiently dealing with problems related to the preservation and

safeguard of a historical building: the process of understanding a monument is not only achieved through historical and

bibliographical documentation but also through the acquisition of information obtained through direct observations, which is the

primary source of discoveries and also an essential method of verification. Last, but not least, is the importance of the geographical

area in which the building was constructed, without which it would not even had a reason to exist. The in-depth study of a building

under the historic-graphic and critical aspects and interpretation of architectural concepts can all be summarized in the "evaluation"

[qiudizio di valore], which must be made by taking into account the historical period in which the building, the object of the present

study, was constructed."

~ Dr. Arch. Barbara Baldrati, "Il quartiere Sallustiano nella sua evoluzione storica,"

in: AA.VV., ‘IL PALAZZO di Via Boncompagni,’ Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze, Roma,

Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, (2005), p. 16.

***

INTRODUCTION:

Rome: Ignacio Marino, Rome’s New Mayor Stresses “the Pedestrianisation of the Via dei Fori Imperiali”

2013, and the Possibilities of the Revitalization of the “ZONA MONUMENTALE” of Rome, as Designed

and Proposed by Prof. Corrado Ricci (1907-1933) & Prof. Giacomo Boni (1898-1925).

With the recent election of Rome’s new Mayor, Dr. Ignacio Marino, who defeated Rome’s incumbent Mayor Gianni Alemanno [28 April 2008 - 11 June 2013] during the run-off Mayoral elections on 10-11 June 2013; earlier during the

election campaign Dr. Marino, with the support of Dr. Rita Paris (an Italian Archaeologist assigned to the SSBAR of Rome), Dr. Marino in late April 2013, proposed (that if elected) one of his first official projects would be the creation of “the Pedestrianisation of the Via dei Fori Imperiali” – thus closing a large section of the vast thoroughfare of the ‘Via dei

Fori’ between the intersection with the ‘Via Cavour’ and towards the entrance and adjoining section of the Colosseum valley.

Now as Rome’s Mayor, Dr. Marino, just after his official appointment as the City of Rome’s new Mayor on 12 June 2013, although still in the first few days of his official administration, Mayor Marino while he has not named the various members of the Municipal Town-Council of Rome (i.e., Vice-Mayor; Council Assessor of Cultural Heritage; and other

related Council Assessors, or the Scholar who will serve as the City of Rome’s Supervisor of Archaeology – Fine Arts – Museums, etc.); Mayor Marino has announced that as of 15 August 2013, he will go ahead and begin to implement the project: “the Pedestrianisation of the Via dei Fori Imperiali”, which may eventually lead to the further ‘Creation of the

New Archaeological park of Rome,’ within the center of modern Rome of the early 21st century.

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Fig. 1). - Rome, the Piazza Venezia (2010) – Photograph of the City of Rome’s first decorative inscribed panel (1871) attached to the wall of the later Palazzo dei Assicurazioni Cenerali, adjacent to current Palazzo Valentini, and the nearby Column of Trajan. The 1871 panel dedicating this site as the former location of the small house of Rome’s Renaissance Genius Michelangelo which was demolished in 1902 during the systemization the Piazza Venezia area. Rome, 1976 – NEW ROME MAYOR - Scholar Stresses preservation of the City's Cultural Heritage - Rome's City hall is on the Campidoglio, a magnificent public square designed by Michelangelo. Across the Tiber stands the Vatican, home of the Sistine Chapel and other great works by the same master. "Some distance separates us," said prof. Guilio Carlo Argan, the city's new mayor, "But the same genius should like us together."

Mayor of Rome | Prof. Guilio Carlo Argan, in: THE NEW YORK TIMES, 18 August 1976, p. 5.

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While, the Mayor of Rome has not yet officially published any significant documentation relating the overall planning and

design of his project for “the Pedestrianisation of the Via dei Fori Imperiali (to begin as of August 15, 2013),” other than

his recent and earlier campaign presentation with Dr. Paris (i.e., Marino: "Pedonalizzerò i Fori imperiali", IL

MESSAGGERO (13/06/2013) = I Fori Imperiali ai pedoni e alle bici Ignazio Marino presenta il progetto per la

pedonalizzazione. «Se sarò eletto lo realizzerò nei primi cento giorni», CORRIERE DELLA SERA (27/04/2013).

Moreover, in the meantime while it not technically possible for Italian scholars in Rome to objectively comment on

Mayor Marino's new proposal for the forthcoming Via dei Fori Project , however one scholar, Prof. Rafaela Panella of the

La Sapienza -University of Rome's Department of Architecture & Projects, who was interviewed for the Italian newspaper

article, Il dibattito “Pedonalizzare I Fori e` un rischio,” ‘IL MESSAGGERO (14 June 2013), pp. 1 & 43, in which Prof.

Panella, did comment briefly about Mayor Marino's new Fori pedestrian plan, he said:

“«La questione prima che tecnica è culturale: come sposare l'antico al moderno, sapendo che non siamo in un pezzo di

città morta e musealizzata, come Ostia o Pompei», commenta Raffaele Panella docente della Sapienza, studioso dei

problemi di Roma e del suo centro storico e archeologico. «Non c'è dubbio - continua Panella - che in questa area

strategica sul piano urbanistico, delicata più di ogni altra perla sua fragilità, i romani e i visitatori dovranno cambiare

abitudini e atteggiamento, anche perché parti enormi di quest'area saranno riservate esclusivamente ai pedoni».

“…The problem is more cultural then technical, how to merge the ancient with the modern, knowing that we are not a

part of dead city, or a museum such as Ostia or Pompeii. There is no doubt, continues prof. Panella – in this strategic

urban planning, delicate, more than any other because its fragility, Roman’s and visitors have to change their habits and

attitudes, because a large section of this [central archaeological] area will be exclusively reserved for pedestrians.”

English Translation above of Prof. Panella’s comment in ‘IL MESSAGGERO (14 June 2013), p. 43,’ (traduzione a cura

della Sig.ra Daniela Carpineti di Roma [14/06/2013].

Fig. 2). One of several recent design proposals for the central archaeological area of Rome – the Piazza Venezia, the

Imperial Forums & Via dei Fori Imperiali, and the Colosseum valley, etc., by Prof. R. Panella (edt.), ‘The project for the

systemization of the central archaeological area of Rome | 2009’, Rome, La Sapienza | Project Center of the Department of

Architectural Projects [2013].

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