Dear all,next week (on Wednesday and Thursday) I will analyze with you the possible interactions between Law and Architecture, focusing on the peculiar role of monuments in Rome after the unification of Italy. My aim is to discuss the following topics:
1) The influence of legal-political ideology on architecture.
2) The influence of architecture on the common perception of law and justice.
On Friday Raffaele Furno will conclude this week with a more general analysis of the relationship between individual and space and between space and cultural and social identity. The topic of the possible links between law and space will thus be approached from two very different standpoints, considering also our very different backgrounds.
Class schedule:
LAW AND ARCHITECTURE:
“MONUMENTOMANIA” IN POST-UNIFICATION ITALY
1) Cavour monument in the framework of the political topography of “Roma Capitale”
2) The Italian Court of Cassation: the fulfillment of Zanardelli’s idea of justice
LAW AND PERFORMANCE:
3) The changing space of Rome / Constructing identity
Raffaele Furno’s CV:
Raffaele Furno holds a PhD in Performance Studies from Northwestern University and a B.A. in Asian Studies from UC Berkeley.
His first book "Intra-cultural Theater: Performing the Life of Black Migrants to Italy" was published in 2010 and analyzes the intersection between theater-making and the changing racial landscape in Italy since the late 1970s.
He has also published several articles on contemporary Italian theater and performance.
He is currently prof. of Performance Theory at Arcadia University, and Creative Writing at Università Gregorio VII.
Furno is also a theater director, who has extensively worked in the USA and Italy, founder of the experimental theater company Imprevisti e Probabilità, and artistic director of the Festival Deviazioni Recitative.
Stefania Gialdronis’s CV
Stefania Gialdroni is a research fellow (“assegnista di ricerca”) at the University of Roma Tre Law Faculty, the chair of Medieval and Modern Legal History. She obtained her PhD in 2009 “en co-tutelle” between the University of Milano-Bicocca and the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales - Paris (EHESS). In 2006 she entered the Marie Curie Program “European Doctorate in history, sociology, anthropology and philosophy of legal cultures in Europe”. In the framework of the European Doctorate she spent one year at the London School of Economics (LSE), and two years at the EHESS in Paris. She received several scholarships from the Max-Planck Institut für europäische Rechtsgeschichte in Frankfurt am Main, where she attended the International Max-Planck Research School for Comparative Legal History (2005-2006). In 2003 she graduated from the University of Rome Tre, Law Faculty. She has been assisting Prof. Emanuele Conte in the organization of the Law and the Humanities courses at the RomaTre Law Faculty since 2008. The subject of her PhD thesis is the legal structure of the English East India Company during the 17th century.
I was very impressed from the sentence of Bruno Zevi about mistakes of youth:"il suo programma lo considero un grosso errore.Non solo perchè perderà parecchi mesi che potrebbe utilizzare bene.Ma anche perchè quando si commette un grosso errore da giovani,le conseguenze si ripercuotono per lungo tempo.Si passerà il resto della vita a dimostrare che non era un errore".
ReplyDeleteAfter the lesson about the history of the "palazzo di giustizia" and the fact that,all the story about his iconografy and construction embodies the Zanardelli's idea of justice and although he was anticlerical is clear that he conceived this like a temple,THE TEMPLE OF JUSTICE;about this concept i have a question,is possible that zanardelli conceived "the palazzaccio"like a substitute for churchs against the religious power although it was similar and huge like a religious monument?ROBERTA ANTONELLI
ReplyDeletehi
ReplyDeletei like too much this theme, it's also too important for all the community and how we had seen in class and the professor Conte has said there is a strictly connection between law and architecture and also with policy.
how the professor said in our days it's too strange and inusual build palaces with the idea that it will influence the people in their opinions and ideas because now there are the mass media , but not too many yars ago when the mass media were not so powerful it was not so strange.
when Italy was just unified the primary aim for that times was to give the idea of it with buildings but not only , for example also many dictatorships used the buildings to spread their theories.
for example Mussolini built too many palaces in Rome in particular for giving the idea of his force and for impress the people also with big parades,like the monumentomania he used the influence of the romanity .
now it's different we build palaces only for using it e not with the idea that it can have also a policy and cultural aim .
giordano di lorenzi
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed by the fact that at times it's hard to stop and think that the law has links with other disciplines.
ReplyDeletein this case the link with the architecture seems to me much more noticeable than the previous.
also related to what I said at the beginning, I wanted to tell you how my own experience when I was younger, so with the unconscious teenager when I spent a long look after I saw the lungo Tevere and Castel Sant'Angelo, the great palace with huge chandeliers and many windows, even considering the numerous columns on the floor below could not understand what was the entrance. were astonished and tell the truth made me a little anxiety. In fact, what strikes one is the court of cassation How much does for me, and Castel Sant'Angelo with its majestic past in the background.
I do not know what you think of these two buildings, and what you send?
Monica Di Silvestro
During the lesson of Raffaele Furno, he talked about important themes connected with the idea of performance and ,especially,starting from the point of view of the relationship between place and space connected with performance especially the simbol that the place represents in a performance.Professor Conte talked about the importance of places,especially in Ancient Rome,because the exhibitions, for example in Colosseum and the monuments, simbolized the power of Rome;in my opinion this fact was strong also at the beginning of xx century,infact, yesterday dott.ssa Gialdroni talked about the fact that the "Palazzo di giustizia" embodies Zanardelli's idea of justice;this costum for me lost his importance when the power of media became central,maybe at the beginning of the revolution that started in 1950 about the power of television or 1968 when the idea of rebellion,revolution through "propaganda" and against,especially the political power,simbolized a new way to affirm the power,no more with the augustness of monuments;today the media are a real tool of power,all tipes of power,political,religious or social.
ReplyDeleteRoberta Antonelli
ReplyDeleteThe lessons of dott.Stefania Gialdroni made me think about the changes of the way of thinking and communicating and the meaning of some monument that we can se every day in Rome.Media didn't exist when these monuments were built and it is so charming thinking that they are build to symbolize something,to adfirm the power and to do political"propaganda"!I was very interested on the history of the Court of Cassation and his structure,orizhontal structure in contraposition with vertical religious palaces(probably their verticality symblolize the closeness to the sky and therefore tho God).In the Court of Cassation the only God is Law!Infact this is the historic period in which there are a lot of contrast between State and Church.The Court of Cassation symbolize the unity of Italy and maybe its style that isn't pure but ecleticist need to celebrate the grandeur and magnificense of Italy and its capital Rome.
ReplyDeleteI think that this topic is the most interesting for me until now,moreover Stefania Gialdroni was very clear in its explaination. Two years ago I went to the court with professor Tinelli but but I couldn't appreciate neither cavour statue neither the other works of art we talked about at lesson. The next time I will be more carefull to really imprint in my mind what we have now only read on papers and thank to those lessoun I will really understand what Zanardelli wanted to tell us about justice.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Professor Conte about the last Friday’s class with Professor Furno, i think that there’s a strong connection between performance and law. We use to associate the term performance only to a kind of artistic or theatrical representation excluding any link with law. I think there’s an important relationship between some kind of law-related jobs such as lawyers, procurators and others and their success that comes from their skills and the abilities to perform. What we call “arringa” is a more or less truthful representation of historical events that the lawyer presents to the judge trying to convince him doing a good performance. This is an artistic way of expression too. Its aim is not to provoke bad or good feelings in front of an audience as it is in a theatre, but it’s to convince the judge in a court ,especially in the American model in which the jury plays a decisive role. This all depends on the lawyers’ (or other technical figures’) performance and on his abilities in arguing.
ReplyDeleteLuca Tosto
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ReplyDeleteI liked very much the lessons of Stefania Gialdroni. I think that few people noticed the particulars of the court of cassation, me too. It was very interesting to discover them and understand the meaning of the statues and building like "Palazzaccio". Know this datail helps us to realize the importance that they gave to the law. For me, Zanardelli had a great idea to define this building as 'a temple of justice', a place that represents the unity of Italy. I like this idea becouse it enphatizes the basic role that law has in the society, today as before.
ReplyDeleteFrencesca Natalini
Dear students,
ReplyDeletethank you very much for all your comments! They are all very interesting and I am very happy that you will think about the meaning of the Court of Cassation and its surroundings when you will walk near it or when you will work there. I just want to add something about the image of the Templum Iustitiae which seems to have impressed some of you. The idea of the "temple of justice" is very old. Emperor Justinian (6th century) called the Digest a Templum Iustitiae (Cod. 1.17.1.5) and in the Middle Ages (when the Corpus Iuris Civilis began to be studied again)the image of a holy place were justice ruled everything was very widespread. A beautiful examples is to be found in the "Questiones de iuris subtilitatibus" (12th century): see E. Cortese, "Le grandi linee dela storia giuridica medievale", Roma, 2000, pp. 278-281. Anyway, I think that Roberta is right: in post-unification Italy one of the main concerns was to create a lay state with a lay justice that had to compete with the Church. They wanted to create a kind of "lay religion", a concept that had been used before, e.g. during the French Revolution, and after, e.g. during the Fascism. I know that this answer is too short for such a huge topic but I hope that I have given you a couple of inputs!
I enjoyed the last week's lessons more the others we had since we began. I am always actracted by the influence that the history have on the art and viceversa. I always thought is very exciting learn how to read the signs hidden Benina palaces, statues,colors,architectures. And i always wanted to "be a mosquito" back in the days, just to watch if what we all think of the meaning of some signs Are the same things the people back in the days thought; to compare what we discover after years of deep and hard studies and lots of energies were easy to be understood by the people Who were living when that palace,or art in general was Made.for sure we had an amazing week talking about the palazzo di giustiza's history. Thanks Stefania gialdroni we had the chance to learn the exciting and complicated history hidden behind it during years that built our country... An italy divided by its Classic and Strong parts shock shows the strenght, and the desire to follow its modern and new aspect...
ReplyDeleteI doubt thatwithout these lessons we could have had easly the chance to learn how to interprete the stones of the palace thatcould become the place where we will work at.
I was totally fashinated by the friday's . It had been real and usefull and ithink it should be' a topic studied by law students. Law and lawyers job is all around performances and psychology and the way to' mix it with the known laws. I think is absurd we don't have any subject like that while we study. We all talk everyday about interpretation, custums, and how to apply the rules , but we never really focus on the reason why we want to interpret and use that law in that way. It looks we just focus on the accademic job,we have a static idea of law in general. It looks we study something farfrom out daily lifes.i think forcing law schools Are a way better than ours on that. In the other countries i have the feeling is more concrete and they stimolate the studente alot, but of course that's just my oplinion. Giulia baliva
According to me, these three lessons about " Law and Architecture" and "Law and Performance" have been really interesting and useful.
ReplyDeleteI think that everyone walks in the centre of Rome and does not pay attention to all the monuments and their meaning.
Sometimes it could happen that in a big square with huge constructions and monuments, a person could remember just one building or monument.
During the firs and the second lesson, Stefania Gialdroni analyzed the close connection between " Law and Architecture" and "Policy and Architecture".
For example, Cavour statue in the centre of the Cavour square has a policy meaning: Cavour has been the firs prime minister of the new Italian Sate, the protagonist of the "Risorgimento" and the supporter of liberal and civil progress.
An example of connection between law and architecture is given by the " Palazzo di Giustizia".
"Palazzo di Giustizia" is the temple of justice, it embodies the Zanardelli' s idea of justice: Zanardelli sought to reconcile the forces of the political and spiritual institutions in the italian society by erecting the symbol of the secular, jurisdictional sate before the ineradicable ecclesiastical power.
During the third lesson Raffaele Furno explained to the class that the construction of buildings and monuments, very often is related to the performance.
For example, the Colosseo was built for gladiator spectacles and the structure was so huge to represent the power of Rome.
Today the Colosseo is just a touristic attraction, this means that is different the perception in the history.
An other reflection of Raffaele Furno was that every construction can be seen in different ways depending on the state of mind : probably when you have an exam, the university structure is seen dark, oppressive etc.
Sara De Prosperis.
Hi! Last week Giulia suggested, after the last class, that Calderini is supposed to have committed suicide because the Court of Cassation wasn't exactely how he thought it should be (i.e., it was horrible). Well, apparently he suffered a lot because of the critics but I can't read anywhere that he committed suicide...Just have a look here: http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/guglielmo-calderini_(Dizionario-Biografico)/
ReplyDeleteAnother information I forgot to give you: both Claderini and Cesare Maccari (the painter of the Aula Massima) worked in the construction of the Basilica San Paolo, after the fire. It is just in front of our Faculty: let's go and have a look!
thanks stefania...it looks that the information the tourist's guide gave to me is not true at all..i am glad he didn't suicide, and if i will be able to find usefull informations i will send you everything! thanks again giulia baliva
ReplyDeleteIt was pretty easy to imagine how it looked years ago and how the city would have revolved around this square. how do you train your mind to think positive
ReplyDelete