Archinect - News

The Colosseum in Rome opens its ancient Hypogeum to the public for the first time

2021-06-30T14:59:00-04:00

A newly restored Hypogeum has been unveiled in Rome over the weekend, opening the catacombs of the famed Colosseum to the public for the first time in its 2,000-year history.

The Italian Ministry of Culture has announced that the little-seen section is finally open thanks to a decades-long restoration project funded in part by a $29.8 million gift from fashion brand Tod’s.

Planned on a whim at the end of the first century AD, the Colosseum was the last great project under Emperor Vespasian and incorporated a labyrinth-like, wood-covered underground area (added under Emperor Domitian) used as a multi-purpose space by the building's grounds crew and as barracks and staging area for gladiators. Just like the ancient fighters, who were meant to be hidden as they entered the arena floor through a series of tunnels, visitors are now free to explore.

The Colosseum’s final Venatio came in ...

Take a look at the newly unveiled high-tech floor for the Colosseum arena in Rome

2021-05-03T17:03:00-04:00

The floor of Rome’s Colosseum, where gladiators once fought against each other and wild animals, is set to be restored to its former glory. Milan Ingegneria, a structural engineering and architecture firm, has won an €18.5m (£16m) bid to build and install a retractable arena floor that will allow visitors “to see the majesty of the monument” from its centre, culture minister Dario Franceschini said on Sunday.

Plans for the arena floor restoration of the Roman Colosseum (completed in AD80 under Emperor Titus) first appeared on Archinect in January.

Concept for the new Colosseum arena floor. Video via MiC_Italia on YouTube.

Milan Ingegneria's concept of a retractable arena floor allows the structure to be flexible and easily removed again should the need arise. If construction goes according to plan, the new attraction will open in 2023.

Archaeologists uncover "Little Pompeii," ancient Roman settlement in France

2017-08-08T14:25:00-04:00

A major Roman settlement discovered south of Lyon in France is the “most exceptional excavation of a Roman site in 40 or 50 years”, says the chief archaeologist working on the project. Benjamin Clément, who works for the Swiss conservation company Archeodunum, is leading a team of 15 archaeologists at the dig in Saint Colombe, a small town near the city of Vienne.

The well-preserved ancient Roman neighborhood, dubbed "Little Pompeii" by the archaeologists, covers an area of almost 7,000 square meters (75,000 square feet) and was discovered during construction of a housing complex near the city of Vienne.

Berkeley researchers solve the mystery of the ultra-strong and durable ancient Roman concrete

2014-12-19T18:10:00-05:00

The mortar resists microcracking through in situ crystallization of platy strätlingite, a durable calcium-alumino-silicate mineral that reinforces interfacial zones and the cementitious matrix. The dense intergrowths of the platy crystals obstruct crack propagation and preserve cohesion at the micron scale, which in turn enables the concrete to maintain its chemical resilience and structural integrity in a seismically active environment at the millennial scale.

Mausoleum of Augustus stands derelict on anniversary of emperor's death

2014-08-19T14:54:00-04:00

Built in 28BC as a suitably glorious tomb for Augustus and his relatives, with pink granite obelisks, golden urns and a bronze statue of the emperor on top, it has suffered innumerable indignities ever since the sack of Rome. Now, fenced off and often used as a dumping site for litter, and even as an unofficial public lavatory, it goes almost unnoticed by the diners who crowd into the restaurants of the square around it.

Previously: Saudi royal family could pay for restoration of Roman monuments

Saudi royal family could pay for restoration of Roman monuments

2014-04-01T14:24:00-04:00

A training barracks used by Roman gladiators and the 2,000-year-old mausoleum of the Emperor Augustus could be restored with money from the Saudi royal family, in the latest effort by Italy to secure funding for its crumbling cultural heritage. In a deal brokered by Ignazio Marino, the mayor of Rome, the Saudi royals are to provide millions of euros to pay for the restoration of some of the capital's neglected monuments.

The Humble Beginnings of Early Roman Architecture

2013-08-20T18:22:00-04:00

Any definitive insight into the formative stages of Roman architectural hubris lies irretrievable beneath layers of the city’s repeated renovations through the time of caesars, popes and the Renaissance [...] Now, at excavations 11 miles east of Rome’s city center, archaeologists think they are catching a glimpse of Roman tastes in monumental architecture much earlier than previously thought, about 300 years before the Colosseum.

The New York Times recently reported on the ongoing excavations of Roman monumental
remnants from the city's pre-Colosseum era at the Gabii digging site not far from the capital.
Since last summer, a team of archaeologists and University of Michigan students led by classical studies professor Nicola Terrenato have found a number of significant discoveries from the formative stages of early Roman architecture, including a possible public building from the city-state Gabii, where the digging site gets its name.

The team's findings so far reveal the more modest beginnings of early Roman architecture instead of the image of grandeur many are accustomed to seeing -- and even evidence of urban planning. At this point, the Michigan group has explored two-thirds of the site and continues to unearth the vast layers of ancient Roman history.

Click here to read the full article.

Photo by Anna Gallone/The Gabii Project, via The NY Times.