21.6 Lessons of Rome - Part 6 - Piazzas

Introduction

The study of Rome through architectural themes was an excellent methodology to look at the richness and diversity of the city. It also served as an opportunity to re-examine and further clarify the basic concepts that make architecture. The themes of windows, walls, rooms, courtyards, piazzas and porticos served as the stimulators for investigation and inquiry.

Piazza San Ignazio

Piazzas

The pizzas seem to be the most successful in establishing a sense of enclosure when they are the Baroque molded spaces that are dynamic and seem to be constantly changing and when the space is clearly symmetrical.

Piazza Navona

Piazza Navona’s enclosing buildings do not make a continuous wall that is one, but the continuous edge is powerful enough to read the oval form of the plan.




Piazza San Ignazio

Piazza San Ignazio uses elliptical segments as well as symmetry to organize the space.

Piazza Santa Maria della Pace

Piazza Santa Maria della Pace is a space molded in a regular fashion with the porch treated as an object that projects out and becomes the focus of the piazza.

Piazza de Popolo

Piazza de Popolo seems very spacious (defined) from its plan, but is a very different space when actually experienced. For the scale of the space, the curved walls are much too short to give the piazza any sense of enclosure. The only order present in the piazza comes from the obelisk at its center and the symmetry established by the twin churches.

Piazza San Pietro

The Piazza of St. Peters is both a symmetrical space of continuous layer and a space with a distinct form.

Piazza Campadoglio

The Piazza Campadoglio is given it order by symmetry. The shifting of the side enclosures off the orthogonal makes the space dynamic. The stair ramp that leads up to the space heightens the experience by slowly revealing the space.

Reprinted from
Bertram Wong

7 September 1982

USC Summer Program in Rome
(all sketches copyright Bertram Wong, no reproduction without permission)


See

Part 1 - Experiencing the City

Part 2 - Windows
Part 3 - Construction of Walls and Openings
Part 4 - Rooms

Part 5 - Courtyards

Part 6 - Piazzas

Part 7 - Porticos

Part 8 - Conclusions

Jiwa Studio

Singapore, February 2012
http://jiwastudioweb.blogspot.com/