Renovation of Palazzetto Cenci for RISD’s European Honors Program

Ancient Rome defines what Rome is today. More than any other city, Rome shows every layer of its history. To take on this project, we had to understand the history of this city, the Cenci Palazzetto and RISD’s EHP program. Spoliation is a concept that appears time after time throughout the city it has been looked at as a vandalism, like a building violently stripped of its parts as an act of disrespect. (Kinney 2001) This definition of spolia is not entirely accurate; in fact, spoliation and plundering can be looked at as two separate concepts: plundering aims to humiliate a society, while spoliation is the act of relocating and redefining objects, as an act of admiration.

Students in the EHP program relocate from Providence to Rome and redefine themselves as artists during the immersive program that they complete in Rome. Students at EHP should be mindful of balancing between experiencing Rome and taking in their new environment and looking into themselves while working in the Cenci.

This intervention will consist of a series of nodes accupuncturally placed across the building. The points relate to each other and shift the student’s attention from one point to the next, causing the student to fluctuate between internal thoughts and external experiences throughout Rome. Some of these nodes will be composed of spolia from objects found hidden in the Cenci. 

Just like Rome, I want to keep the history of the building visible all around the space and maintain the layers created over time. The objects found around the building will record students’ experience of RISD in Providence, and at the same time the historical value of the city and building itself.