Nolli, Roman Ruins, and Ruin Redevelopment

One of the most iconic maps is the one of Rome produced by Giambattista Nolli in 1748. There are many amazing things about this figure-ground depiction of the Eternal City, such as the minute detail with which he rendered the interior of public buildings. Nolli also numbered each building, a total of 1320 sites. Of these sites, he lists 60 of them as being in ruins. Truth be told, however, a large portion of the ancient footprint of Rome had become depopulated over the centuries and lay in ruins. This area, the disabitato, was becoming resettled in Nolli's time and contained villas, gardens and agriculture.

In built-up urban areas, ruins have long provided an extra open space, or provided the opportunity for redevelopment. This process continues today. In previous posts we have shown artistic depictions of ruins reuse, for industry and other activities. I can also think of instances in which ruins were cleared and the space redeveloped, though this is less interesting to me because of it's lack of concern for historical preservation. We see in the Nolli map some reuse of Roman ruins for new activities, but also some ruins which have since been cleared.

Anfiteatro Castrense (no. 20 on the Nolli map) is now a garden. The ruins of the villa di Mecenata (no. 39) were destroyed in 1877 for the new Via Carlo Alberto. The Arco di Tito (no. 73) was restored in 1821, while the Coserve d'acqua delle Terme Diocleziane (no. 200) was destroyed. Castro Pretorio (no. 202) is now part of the national library. Maus. di Augusto (no. 472) was restored in the 1930 with a heavy hand, wiping out some of the surrounding buildings. Remains of the Ponte Trionfale (no. 541), a bridge over the Tiber, is still visible when the water level is low. The Terme di Trajan Decio ruins (no. 1079) have been covered by 20th century housing.

An interesting study would be to survey those buildings listed as ruins by Nolli, and to compare the restored, reused, and destroyed buildings with the ones that were left alone.

All this is relevant to the previous post about Canopy Gap. Just the death of a tree provides opportunity for new growth, so too a ruin can provide either space for a new structure, or simply for a new activity within the ruins.

Ruin Uses in Art, Part II

Our most popular blog post to date has been Ruin Uses in Art. That entry brought examples of art from the last 500 years which showed reuse of ruined sites. In light of the popularity of that entry, I felt it appropriate to add some more examples of ruin uses in art.

(Hubert Robert, Young Girls Dancing Around an Obelisk, 1798.)
Here, much as the title describes, we find an imagined scene of merrymaking around the ruins of an obelisk. It is unclear what is being celebrated, and if it has anything to do with the destruction of the obelisk. Presumably it does not, and the ruin simply provides and exciting scene and focus for the party.











(Piranesi, The Forum, 1775.)
Piranesi is known for his wildly imaginative depictions of ruins. Here, however, we find a much more banal scene, in which the forum, neglected for centuries, is filled up with what we can only presume is garbage and other refuse. Ruins, one can presume, have always been a good place to dispose of unwanted things.






(Hubert Robert, Fountain of Minerva, 1733)
In this scene, it is surprising to find that the ruin is still being used for its original purpose, even after its destruction. The water still flows into the fountain, and women still come to do their laundry. It raised an interesting question - can a building that is still in its original use be considered a ruin?





(Friedrich, Abbey Near Eldena in Ruins, 1825)
Friedrich depicts this massive ruin with a house set within. The house blends in well with the ruin, and one wonders if it too is in ruin. However, the presence of two figures implies that this is indeed still an inhabited, sound house. We have seen several interesting examples of ruins reclaimed as residences in Rosh Haayin.





(de Machy, The Arc de Triomphe, 18th c.)
In this depiction of a future state, the Arc de Triomphe is the locale of sheep herders.












(Cannaleto, Roman Forum, 1742)
A number of gentlemen inspect the ruins of a Roman building. However, other people also make use of the open space, including a man with a wheelbarrow and someone to the right with another wheeled contraption of some sort.














(Jan Both, Roman Ruins with Card Players, 1600s)
The title is self-explanatory.