Demolire, riciclare, reinventare: La lunga vita e l’eredità del laterizio romano nella storia dell’architettura; III CONVEGNO INTERNAZIONALE “LATERIZIO” (ROMA, 6-8 MARZO 2019) , 2021
This contribution is based upon the experience of an experimental workshop for the construction o... more This contribution is based upon the experience of an experimental workshop for the construction of a ‘sheet vault’
(or boveda tabicada in the Catalan tradition) in the grounds of the Department of Architecture of Roma Tre University
by two master builders from the Salvador Gomis Aviño firm in Valencia. The bricks were provided by the Fornace
Bernasconi company at Castel Viscardo (Umbria). A visit to the kilns allowed the students to observe the methods
of making bricks, tiles and architectural mouldings according to the ancient artisan tradition which as survived with
few changes.
This article traces the long history of the working of clay in the territory of the Tiber valley, which was the main route
of goods from Central Italy to Rome. The study of brick stamps, accompanied by the identification of the remains of
many ancient kilns, has revealed the extent of the territory that supplied Rome, as far as Perusia and Volsinii Vetus
(Orvieto), highlighting the importance of the so called Opus doliare Tiberinum. In addition to the widespread local
consumption, most of the brick production was therefore destined to Rome, as documented by the stamps found in
the major Imperial monuments and, through Ostia and Portus, also overseas.
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The study fills a gap in the studies of Roman construction, which have generally failed to seek innovation in the building techniques outside Central Italy. The research revealed the importance of Roman architecture in the Peloponnese and its contribution to the development of construction techniques. The significance of these structures had been hitherto only partially recognised and understood, because the few publications to have dealt in any depth with Roman architecture in the Peloponnese were conditioned by an excessive focus on the city of Rome, attributing only relative importance to the specific nature of local building traditions.
For the first time a study evaluates systematically and analytically Roman construction in Greece. Most of the buildings included in the study had never been analysed before and were not even known to specialists. In earlier discussions of Roman architecture in Greece, the construction aspects had been treated cursorily. Scholars were basically focused on comparisons with Rome, thus failing to understand the peculiarities of the construction process. This study offers a detailed layout of the ways in which solid-brick vaulting and concrete vaulting were employed, showing that local workmen were experienced and expert enough to use inventiveness in dealing with technical and structural problems, thus creating a construction tradition distinct from the one in use in Rome. The author analyses on one hand the Italic construction tradition and on the other, the development of a local construction techniques, which were also influenced by eastern vaulting tradition imported from Parthia
The new methodological approach of the research is based on on-site study, with sketches, drawings and descriptions, through which it was possible to recognise and understand the construction solutions adopted in each building. The first-hand observation and the technical drawings and/or descriptions of the construction characteristics have eventually made it possible to identify and understand a building style based on the widespread use of brick for walls and vaults that was to become particularly influential in the late antique period, when Eastern building techniques became more markedly different from the ones adopted in the Western part of the Empire.
This methodology becomes a reference point for future research on similar regional contexts and historical periods that share the same construction principles, rooted in the use of mortar as bonding material.
Papers by paolo vitti
(or boveda tabicada in the Catalan tradition) in the grounds of the Department of Architecture of Roma Tre University
by two master builders from the Salvador Gomis Aviño firm in Valencia. The bricks were provided by the Fornace
Bernasconi company at Castel Viscardo (Umbria). A visit to the kilns allowed the students to observe the methods
of making bricks, tiles and architectural mouldings according to the ancient artisan tradition which as survived with
few changes.
This article traces the long history of the working of clay in the territory of the Tiber valley, which was the main route
of goods from Central Italy to Rome. The study of brick stamps, accompanied by the identification of the remains of
many ancient kilns, has revealed the extent of the territory that supplied Rome, as far as Perusia and Volsinii Vetus
(Orvieto), highlighting the importance of the so called Opus doliare Tiberinum. In addition to the widespread local
consumption, most of the brick production was therefore destined to Rome, as documented by the stamps found in
the major Imperial monuments and, through Ostia and Portus, also overseas.
The restoration carried out on the eastern side of the fortification has addressed the needs for its conservation and enhancement. After a detailed on-site survey and deep understanding of the historical and construction aspects, interventions were focused on few actions, like the removal of vegetation growing on and against the walls, the filling of lacunae or the strengthening of seriously decayed stones.
The study fills a gap in the studies of Roman construction, which have generally failed to seek innovation in the building techniques outside Central Italy. The research revealed the importance of Roman architecture in the Peloponnese and its contribution to the development of construction techniques. The significance of these structures had been hitherto only partially recognised and understood, because the few publications to have dealt in any depth with Roman architecture in the Peloponnese were conditioned by an excessive focus on the city of Rome, attributing only relative importance to the specific nature of local building traditions.
For the first time a study evaluates systematically and analytically Roman construction in Greece. Most of the buildings included in the study had never been analysed before and were not even known to specialists. In earlier discussions of Roman architecture in Greece, the construction aspects had been treated cursorily. Scholars were basically focused on comparisons with Rome, thus failing to understand the peculiarities of the construction process. This study offers a detailed layout of the ways in which solid-brick vaulting and concrete vaulting were employed, showing that local workmen were experienced and expert enough to use inventiveness in dealing with technical and structural problems, thus creating a construction tradition distinct from the one in use in Rome. The author analyses on one hand the Italic construction tradition and on the other, the development of a local construction techniques, which were also influenced by eastern vaulting tradition imported from Parthia
The new methodological approach of the research is based on on-site study, with sketches, drawings and descriptions, through which it was possible to recognise and understand the construction solutions adopted in each building. The first-hand observation and the technical drawings and/or descriptions of the construction characteristics have eventually made it possible to identify and understand a building style based on the widespread use of brick for walls and vaults that was to become particularly influential in the late antique period, when Eastern building techniques became more markedly different from the ones adopted in the Western part of the Empire.
This methodology becomes a reference point for future research on similar regional contexts and historical periods that share the same construction principles, rooted in the use of mortar as bonding material.
(or boveda tabicada in the Catalan tradition) in the grounds of the Department of Architecture of Roma Tre University
by two master builders from the Salvador Gomis Aviño firm in Valencia. The bricks were provided by the Fornace
Bernasconi company at Castel Viscardo (Umbria). A visit to the kilns allowed the students to observe the methods
of making bricks, tiles and architectural mouldings according to the ancient artisan tradition which as survived with
few changes.
This article traces the long history of the working of clay in the territory of the Tiber valley, which was the main route
of goods from Central Italy to Rome. The study of brick stamps, accompanied by the identification of the remains of
many ancient kilns, has revealed the extent of the territory that supplied Rome, as far as Perusia and Volsinii Vetus
(Orvieto), highlighting the importance of the so called Opus doliare Tiberinum. In addition to the widespread local
consumption, most of the brick production was therefore destined to Rome, as documented by the stamps found in
the major Imperial monuments and, through Ostia and Portus, also overseas.
The restoration carried out on the eastern side of the fortification has addressed the needs for its conservation and enhancement. After a detailed on-site survey and deep understanding of the historical and construction aspects, interventions were focused on few actions, like the removal of vegetation growing on and against the walls, the filling of lacunae or the strengthening of seriously decayed stones.
The Arch of Hadrian. This construction does not respect the formula of the honorary arches built throughout the Empire. The structure although being divided into the usual two registers appears unusually vertical and is remarkably light due to its reduced thickness. The four protruding columns do not coordinate with the central body of the arch. The arrangement of the upper register harks back to the architectures in the "Second style" paintings and looses in tectonic power. The syntactical hierarchies (arch framed by the order) are undermined, as can be seen from the arch that is not tangent to the architrave, but interrupts and even touches the frieze (fig. 1).
The cistern/nymphaeum of the Lycabettus. The façade of this building is an almost separate, scenographic element, which seems not coordinated with the reservoir. The "Syrian arc" differs from the usual model with the entablature curving from the horizontal segment to the central arch, since the arch abruptly interrupts the frieze and the cornice (fig. 2) and leans on the horizontal lintel. Once again the tectonic coherence of the order is lost. On the same paratactic scheme is based also the nymphaeum of Argos, where the order with a Syrian arch is arranged like a theatrical backdrop inside an artificial grotto from where water springs.
The Library of Hadrian. The entrance façade of the complex differs dramatically from the perimeter wall in rusticated blocks of limestone. The monumental marble front is enclosed by two short parallel walls (antae) that protrude and delimit a colonnade just detached from the back wall, centred by the entrance propylon. The columns are connected to the walls with single protruding entablature. The architecture recalls the theatrical models of Hellenistic architecture (see Stoas at Lindos and Kamiros), but the solution of the columns emerging from the back wall derives from Rome. However, here the construction and structural coherence are foregone: each column stands away from the wall with expressive force. There are no pilasters on the wall behind, which is as smooth as the cella of a temple (fig. 3).
This architecture may be considered a sort of Mannerism ante litteram, where elements meant to be visually sound and massive, are treated in a graphical way, where rustication is freely used to enhance the strength of architectural units in the city, where instead of composing the different parts of a building into a unit, there is a paratactic design, in which architectural elements are disconnected from the fabric of the building
Il risultato è un manuale non convenzionale che offre spunti originali e concreti agli archeologi del futuro in cerca di reali possibilità di occupazione. Una sorta di bottega artigiana dove apprendere i segreti del mestiere, o meglio dei mestieri, che un’archeologia nuova, pragmatica e ancorata nel presente può ispirare.
Dipartimento delle Scienze Storiche e dei Beni Culturali, Università di Siena, 7 giugno 2019