Robert Venturi’s Rome

Robert Venturi’s Rome is a guidebook to the city of Rome seen through the eyes of Robert Venturi and re- interpreted by two subsequent Rome Prize fellows and architects, Frederick Fisher and Stephen Harby. Published in 1966, Venturi viewed architecture, landscape and art as different manifestations of common themes. Fundamental to the development of any young architects’ outlook on architecture, Venturi wrote this seminal publication following a two-year Rome Prize fellowship at the American Academy in Rome. Many buildings in Rome serve as examples that illustrate his theories, underscoring the city’s profound influence on Venturi’s thinking: from the Pantheon, through works by his favorite artist, Michelangelo, and on to 20th century buildings by Armando Brasini and Luigi Moretti, Venturi reveals Rome as a complex and contradictory city.

In the original book, published in 1966, Venturi viewed architecture, landscape and art as different manifestations of common aesthetic themes. Venturi wrote this seminal publication following a two-year Rome Prize fellowship at the American Academy in Rome, and there is no doubt the city had a profound influence on his thinking. Many buildings in Rome serve as examples that illustrate his theories. From the Pantheon, through works by his favorite artist, Michelangelo, and on to 20th century buildings by Armando Brasini and Luigi Moretti, Venturi reveals Rome as a complex and contradictory city. Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture became one of the era’s most significant theoretical works on architectural theory and is still fundamental to the development of every young architect’s outlook on architecture. Thus, Fisher and Harby’s Robert Venturi’s Rome pays homage to the design influence this publication has had, and will continue to have, on the design world