All posts by Hurtadod

We recently went on a trip to see the Roman Forum, which was amazing! The forum acts as an architectural diagram, in which thousands of years of development are manifested through a layering of buildings and materials. Although much of the area is in ruins today, Paulette did an amazing job explaining what was once there, which allowed us to fill in the rest of the image. Within the Forum, many of the preserved ruins tell stories of history, such as the Arch of Septimius, which was erected in 203 AD in order to celebrate the imperial triumph over the Parthians. As we walked throughout the Forum,It became evident just how layered the city of Rome really is. After our trip to the Forum, Paulette and Gerry invited us over to their terrace to enjoy the delicacies of Rome. As we were atop the balcony, we watched the sun set over the horizon, creating a perfect ending to the day.

Today, our Six Ecologies teacher Ferro took us Southeast to a housing complex called Corviale. To put the size of the complex into perspective, he compared it to the Empire State building, just put on its side. The reality is, the Empire state building is 443 meters high and Corviale is 1000 meters long! As we arrived, we were greeted by a facade that makes you feel miniscule in comparison. The size almost seemed surreal at first glimpse, but as we walked through and around the building, we realized just how long it took to walk from one end to the other. A local Priest , and friend of Ferro, was kind enough to sit down with us and give us a history of the complex as well as answer our questions. The most striking thing for me about Corviale, besides its massive size, was the fact that it housed 9,000 people, and only 70% of those people actually pay rent! The experience of being in such a large complex was breathtaking and contemplative. I say contemplative because it caused a discussion of “Is this type of architecture good?” and as we all know, those conversations can lead to extremely interesting places.  All in all, neither words nor pictures could do justice to the experience of being at Corviale.