12 Sep

In Rome, like other cities, places are created over time. With time the landscapes change due to both human intervention and natural arcs in geology. Buildings are forced to bridge the gaps between these changes and adapt to continue functioning as changes happen. Roads recede below or rise above existing doors, forcing adaptation through steps or other methods providing a means to transgress the levels of  ground. Buildings are also intentionally placed upon the ground in specific fashions to create meaningful experience of the entrance sequence. The way a building interacts with the ground also creates meaning through the juxtaposition of elements or the separation of them. The environment in which the building interacts and its situation within it, leaves subconscious meaning or creates a setting for the people in its vicinity. This meaning does not have to be intended by the creators of the building, and even intentional building design can’t guarantee the meaning of it will last through the forces of time. The building(s) shown here are found on the island of the Tiber river. It is evident that this thing we call ground is a constructed reality at most times. The actual ground is found near the river, which regularly overflows its banks leaving it unaccessible. This relationship with the fluctuating environment accentuates the precarious way the building seems to be both perched on the small pad of land and forcefully thrusting itself out of the rushing river.