The Augustus mausoleum was initially transformed into a stone quarry known as "calcara dell'Agosta", and then into a fortress. During the Renaissance it became the delightful garden of the Soderini family, and then an arena for rudimentary bullfights and, finally, it was converted into a concert hall. The diversity of functions taking place in the monument is characterised by a kind of "basso continuo" produced by its depressed, circular shape, and by its relationship with the sky in its state of a ruin. The essay is focused on Adalberto Libera's project developed during the Thirties, for converting the mausoleum into a shrine for the fallen in eastern Africa. The new use suggested by Libera for the mausoleum, is in perfect harmony with the character of the circular space: a mystic, absolute space, whose content is recounted by the inscriptions on the walls, and whose symbolic element is placed at the centre of the composition. The three elements put into play in the composition - statue, candelabras, and inscriptions - mutually interact through the enhancement of their plastic quality. This interaction occurs inside the principle of the unity-integrity of the architectural organism, which was part of Libera's composing method. More than half a century after Libera's design project for the Mausoleum, the relationship between them and the surrounding urban area is still unresolved, in spite of Meier's project for Ara Pacis, preliminary archaeological surveys and competition centred on the piazza Augusto Imperatore.
The story of the different meanings of a ruin. A project by Adalberto Libera for the Augustus Mausoleum and Ara Pacis in Rome
MASSARENTE, Alessandro
2009
Abstract
The Augustus mausoleum was initially transformed into a stone quarry known as "calcara dell'Agosta", and then into a fortress. During the Renaissance it became the delightful garden of the Soderini family, and then an arena for rudimentary bullfights and, finally, it was converted into a concert hall. The diversity of functions taking place in the monument is characterised by a kind of "basso continuo" produced by its depressed, circular shape, and by its relationship with the sky in its state of a ruin. The essay is focused on Adalberto Libera's project developed during the Thirties, for converting the mausoleum into a shrine for the fallen in eastern Africa. The new use suggested by Libera for the mausoleum, is in perfect harmony with the character of the circular space: a mystic, absolute space, whose content is recounted by the inscriptions on the walls, and whose symbolic element is placed at the centre of the composition. The three elements put into play in the composition - statue, candelabras, and inscriptions - mutually interact through the enhancement of their plastic quality. This interaction occurs inside the principle of the unity-integrity of the architectural organism, which was part of Libera's composing method. More than half a century after Libera's design project for the Mausoleum, the relationship between them and the surrounding urban area is still unresolved, in spite of Meier's project for Ara Pacis, preliminary archaeological surveys and competition centred on the piazza Augusto Imperatore.I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
