CLASS NOTES: The Meier Museum and the Jewel of the Lungotevere (Roman Architecture)

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Notes on video lecture:

The Meier Museum and the Jewel of the Lungotevere

Roman Architecture

Diana Kleiner, Yale University

Notes taken by Edward Tanguay on February 28, 2014 (go to class or lectures)

Choose from these words to fill the blanks below:

shadow, battle, Flaminia, tenor, modern, Pacis, refilled, palace, Actium, travertine, secoli, Cleopatra, obelisk, mausoleum, Mussolini, death

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Richard Meier Museum

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built to enclose the Ara [AHR-ah PAHK-is]

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the original location of the Ara Pacis was elsewhere in the vicinity, ended up beneath a

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it was who sponsored the project to bring all the pieces together for display

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together with other buildings in Mussolini's fascist architectural style

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Meier was careful to use at least some in this structure

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inscription on building to north of square

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flying victory figure carrying a fasces, or bundle of twigs and rods, that the magistrate's lictors used to carry

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Mussolini's name was scratched out of the inscription on the building

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his name has now been officially (!)

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used to be on the ancient Via (now the Via del Corso), the street that Augustus used when returning victorious from Spain and Gaul

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had in front of it an which was brought from Egypt that was part of a sundial, the would fall on the Ara Pacis on Augustus' birthday

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on obelisk a mention of the victory over and Antony at the Battle of , as well as a mention of his victories in Spain and Gaul

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*** for the Romans, victory in and victory over were essentially synonymous

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the dates to 28-23 BC, earlier than the Ara Pacis

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Richard Meier museum is the first building that has been put up in the center of Rome since the time of Mussolini

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many people felt that it didn't fit the of city or suit the environment

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2006: grafitti of the building, "Meglio gli architetti di fa..." (architects of the past were better)

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but when you go into the door

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impressive plaster casts of Augustus and his family

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impressive interior: egg crate ceiling

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at night: the Ara Pacis is lit up "like a jewel in a jewel box"

Vocabulary:

fasces, n. [FAS-eez] a bundle of rods bound together around an ax with the blade projecting, carried before ancient Roman magistrates as an emblem of authority, also used by Mussolini as a symbol of fascism ⇒ "In the seal of the United States Senate, the red liberty cap above the shield and crossed fasces below the shield represent freedom and authority, respectively."

lictor, n. a Roman functionary who carried a fasces when attending a magistrate in public appearances and was responsible for punishing criminals ⇒ "Each consul was accompanied in every public appearance by twelve lictors, who displayed the magnificence of the office and served as his bodyguards."

People:

######################### (1934-)

American architect who built Meier Museum in Rome

1957: Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cornell University
after graduation, he traveled to Israel, Greece, Germany, France, Denmark, Finland and Italy, among other places, to network with architects
abstract artist and architect whose geometric designs make prominent use of the color white
Meier Museum in Rome, described as a "modernist eyesore"

Spelling Corrections:

grafitti ⇒ graffiti

Ideas and Concepts:

Etymology of the day, via this morning's Roman Architecture class: "The term fascism is derived from the Latin word fasces, which was a bundle of rods that were tied around an axe, an ancient Roman symbol of the authority of the civic magistrate. These bundles were carried by the magistrate's lictors and could be used for corporal and capital punishment at his command. The symbolism of the fasces suggested strength through unity"