Architect dreams of completing Colosseum
By Claire Soares, Reuters

The Colosseum will come full circle if one septuagenarian Roman gets his way.

Architect Carlo Aymonino wants to rebuild the outer wall of the world's most famous amphitheatre, once rocked by earthquakes and quarried to build other glories in the Eternal City.

"It wouldn't be an Italian Disneyland. In fact it would be the exact opposite - a careful scientifically correct reconstruction," the 78-year-old told Reuters in an interview.

His planned revamp could well become the next chapter in a long and often bitter debate about whether archaeological and artistic wonders should be left to succumb to the effects of time or be restored to their original beauty.

The two sites I wanted to see when I toured Europe were the Colosseum in Rome and Versailles in France. Neither one of them disappointed me. Both are grand on a scale that is not comparable to anything here in the states. I think that part of the charm of the Colosseum is the fact that it is a ruin and that much of its past is shrouded in mystery. On the other hand, the world's oldest operating amphitheatre would have a certain draw to it. Either way the building needs to be stabilized before it decays any further. The only thing that came across as a little absurd was his idea of approaching Coke to sponsor the rebuilding efforts. "Celebrating with the slaughter of thousands of Christians? Have a Coke."

More

Architect dreams of completing Colosseum
Mon 8 March, 2004 16:51

By Claire Soares

ROME (Reuters) - The Colosseum will come full circle if one septuagenarian Roman gets his way.

Architect Carlo Aymonino wants to rebuild the outer wall of the world's most famous amphitheatre, once rocked by earthquakes and quarried to build other glories in the Eternal City.

"It wouldn't be an Italian Disneyland. In fact it would be the exact opposite - a careful scientifically correct reconstruction," the 78-year-old told Reuters in an interview.

His planned revamp could well become the next chapter in a long and often bitter debate about whether archaeological and artistic wonders should be left to succumb to the effects of time or be restored to their original beauty.

The recent staging of pop concerts and art exhibitions in the Colosseum, where once the baying Roman mob feasted on gory gladiatorial battles, is proof that time for Italy's treasures has not stood still.

Sitting in his studio, surrounded by sketches and models, the softly spoken Aymonino had more ammunition to use against those arguing for a hands-off approach to antiquity.

"The Colosseum now has an electronically operated lift which the Romans certainly didn't," he said with a wink.

Slaves sweated and toiled for about eight years to build the original Colosseum, which was inaugurated in 80 AD with a 100-day festival of ferocious warfare.

But Aymonino is unfazed by the thought of rebuilding the outer wall of Italy's most visited archaeological site, which attracts almost three million tourists a year.

"It wouldn't take much, you could use brick," he said.

UNDOING MUSSOLINI

Aymonino also wants to pull up the road built by 20th-century Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, which carves a path straight through the Roman Forum.

"It's ridiculous, that street. They covered up lots of ruins and split the Forum in two," he sighed, adding that he doesn't buy the argument that removing the thoroughfare would gridlock an already-congested city.

"Traffic, like water, always finds a way," he said.

With the sites reunited, the bespectacled white-haired architect wants to rebuild ruins like the Temple of Mars, which hosted solemn religious ceremonies before being turned into a museum of art.

"The three surviving upright columns are beautiful but there are bases of many more. So why not put them back up, making them smooth not ridged to distinguish the old from the new?"

And then, he says, it's time to inject some vitality.

"We don't need streets of shops but why not have the odd bookshop and cafe dotted around ... something that gives an idea of how lively it might have been?"

Aymonino gives no figure for the cost of realising his dream, but his fundraising ideas may stoke controversy.

"It would be a good thing for someone like Coca-Cola to fund in terms of publicity. They could ... tell the whole world that they'd completed the Colosseum."

He will hand his plans to Rome's mayor on April 21, the anniversary of the city's foundation. Then it's wait and see.

But modern-day visitors seem as averse to the idea of reconstructing the Colosseum as 19th-century novelist Charles Dickens, who declared "God be thanked: a ruin!"

"If there was a risk that the Colosseum would fall down or disintegrate then that would be a different matter. I think the original structure should be conserved," said Alex Wenham, a 26-year-old English stonemason.

And Lisa Goldscheider, a London lawyer, agreed.

"It's amazing it's still standing. Maybe it's best not to play with history."

posted by awiggins | 02:46 PM