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Question 02

How does a building meet the ground?

It seems simple enough at first glance.  A hidden treasure sandwiched between two buildings; I even walked by it at first.  I stood at the base of three stairs staring at Bramante’s Tempietto through an archway.  The site seems obvious enough.  It was situated in the courtyard of San Pietro in Montorio.  A small, commemorative martyrium surrounded by stairs on each side.  As I walked up the set of stairs and inside I quickly became aware of the complexity of this building when the grate at my feet revealed a lower room.  Realizing there was much more to this small temple, I wanted to see what else was hiding and waiting to be discovered.  I found a set of staircases on the backside going down.  A small window on the first floor seamlessly connected to the lower room.  I walked down the stairs; the room was almost identical to the one above it, except the altar was on the opposite end.  This building encourages discovery and adventuring; it not only meets the ground but also speaks with it.  The simple staircases are constantly interacting with the site above and below.  Without it, I wouldn’t have found the buried secrets that were the Tempietto.  Now I can only wonder, what else is down there?

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