A Lasting Impression

Five weeks in Italy is an experience anyone would say is life changing. Enough time in another country to truly immerse yourself in a different culture. However, to get the most out of an experience such as this one, you have to be looking for it. Noticing the details of how locals act, what they do, and their environments. Really paying attention to the past and present of the place you are in. A great way to do this is to notice the architecture, a true lasting impression of a culture. 

Something that many people will talk about is how they look in awe of these great buildings, paintings, views, and everything that Rome has to offer. Every corner you turn there is something new and exciting. It is all breath taking, but how many of us take the time to learn why? Why the designers, artists, and architects, made the decisions that lead them to the final result. After the initial shock and awe settles, it is important to understand the context of what you are looking at. The city of Rome is filled with so much history that plays an important role in what decisions were made. 

This was the mindset I tried to have while in Rome. By asking questions and giving thought to the historical context, it made it easier to understand the place I was in. For example, while at the Basilica di Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, a gothic church near the Pantheon, I noticed something odd. Near many of the memorials, there were skulls placed at various heights. They seemed to be at eye level. Some were placed around an average person’s height and others for people who were taller or shorter, so that everyone could see into the eyes of the skulls. Each one was slightly different in height, but why? When looking at the historical context of the church it starts to make sense. A central theme in the church is funerary art. The skulls are placed next to funerary monuments as a way to help the visitor remember that life does not last forever. It helped entice people to prepare for the afterlife and cope with the thought of death. Seeing the skulls at eye level is somewhat unsettling. But after understanding why it was done that way, it starts to make sense. 

As designers we have a ‘why’ for everything we do. To make the people feel a certain way when they enter a space. At the Basilica di Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, they wanted you to feel unsettled, so that you would start to think about life after death. They hoped that this would bring people to church. It was all done by one choice that had a meaning behind it. 

Sometimes we do not get a chance to understand the complete reason why something was done. Since Rome was built on top of itself a few times, there have been many ancient sites uncovered. By studying them we can get a good idea of why they were built based on the things left behind. The Basilica of San Clemente is a great example of this. The church has three levels to it; the Basilica on top, an early Christian church on the next level down, and under that is a Mithraic temple. The temple that is on the lowest level, is the one we know the least about, but was likely destroyed in the fire of Nero. After the fire, the early Christian church, that is in the middle level, was built on top of the temple’s site. Then there came viking raids that destroyed most of the early christian level, so they filled it and built on top again. This is where we have the current basilica. But why build on top of another site? The Romans likely thought it was easier to fill the old sites and build up rather than tear down the old buildings first. This led to many ancient sites being somewhat preserved under all the dirt and why we have so much ancient Roman history. Historians are able to piece together the city’s history because of the decision to fill old buildings and build on top of those same sites. This was likely not the forward thinking of the Romans, but more for their convenience. However, just this one decision shaped how Rome was built completely.

We were able to visit this location pretty early on in our time. It really helped to understand when we were visiting other sites that Rome works like one big lasagna. For example, when seeing the Roman Forum, the Pantheon, and Largo Argentina, I could understand why the ground level was so much lower than the current street levels. San Clemente holds a vast history in just one spot, as does most of Rome. When something new is discovered in the city, it is important to the Italians that it gets preserved. Not even the ancient architecture will ever be forgotten or fade into something of the past. The city works like its own history book. Showing the layers of time as they continued to build up over the years. It is all a part of what Rome is and the impression it has left on locals and visitors alike over centuries. 

As an architecture student on this trip, it was important to notice the reasons behind the choices that were made. But for many people it is just simply realizing that they feel a certain way when walking into a space. In the book “The Eyes of the Skin” by Juhani Pallasmaa, he says, “A piece of architecture should not become transparent… it has to maintain its impenetrable secret and mystery in order to ignite our imagination and emotions”. Our secret as designers and architects is to make small decisions that lead people to feel an emotion in the spaces we create. Whether that is to look in awe of greatness at a large and beautiful church, or to scare them into church with skulls at eye level. 

It is our job to study not only buildings but human behavior in spaces as well. The Pantheon, a church dedicated to all the gods, is meant to be a grand space. Somewhere that when you walk in, you cannot help but be amazed at your surroundings. A feeling of awestruck, humbleness, and tiny in comparison. This was intentional choices by the designer to make you feel this way. A building dedicated to all the gods deserves nothing less than someone standing silently in awe of it. So, the designers made you feel that. By creating this massive one of a kind concrete dome with an oculus, large columns and doors, giant statues and monuments. Decisions made so that the pantheon would feel larger than life itself when you walk in its doors, but why? All to make you feel small and humbled when entering into the church of all the gods. It was not just the pantheon that did this. Many churches around Rome feel gigantic for the same reason. Another great example of this is St. Peter’s Basilica, the church of the pope. A church with the large ceilings, large doors, large columns, large artwork, and large open spaces. A place where you feel like the size of an ant when you walk in, so that you feel humbled and small when inside the church. Both buildings wanted to achieve similar emotions, so they have many similar design techniques.

The perception I have on architecture and design has changed after this time spent in Rome. I no longer look at a building as one design or as a whole unit. A building is a series of small but intentional choices that all have a reason behind them. It is something made up of so many small details that are well worth taking the time to notice and understand why they were done. Realizing that the choices that we make today is a part of a much larger story. We can shape how people feel, what they do, and what they remember in the spaces that we design. Like how the decision to make a gigantic concrete dome has stood the test of time and today still makes a lasting impression.