Robert Venturi's Rome

Robert Venturi's Rome is a guidebook to the city of Rome seen through the eyes of Robert Venturi, re- interpreted by two subsequent Rome Prize fellows and architects, Frederick Fisher and Stephen Harby. Published in 1966, Venturi looks at architecture, landscape and art as different manifestations of common themes. As students the book is fundamental to the development of any young architects' outlook on architecture. Venturi wrote the book following a two year Rome Prize fellowship at the American Academy in Rome, and there is no doubt that the city had a profound influence on his thinking. He used many buildings in Rome as examples to illustrate his theories. From the Pantheon, through works by his favorite artist, Michelangelo, and on to 20th century buildings by Armando Brasini and Luigi Moretti, Venturi reveals Rome as a complex and contradictory city.
Driven to create fulfilling environments, Frederick Fisher approaches architecture as a collaborative process. Frederick gained stature in the art and academic worlds by designing exceptional spaces for the practice and exhibition of art. He is a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome, where he combined his passions for art and architecture in the exploration of museum meaning and design. A registered architect since 1978, Fisher received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Oberlin College in Art and Art History and a Master's of Architecture from UCLA.
Stephen Harby is an architect who practiced with the late Charles Moore and was a Visiting Lecturer at the Yale School of Architecture from 2001-2016. His professional activities are concentrated in various realms, all focused on furthering the understanding and appreciation of the built environment: As an artist, Stephen Harby is an accomplished and recognized painter in watercolor. His work is in many collections, including the Art Institute of Chicago. He has been recognized through grants and fellowships, including those from the MacDowell Colony, Western European Architectural Foundation (Gabriel Prize), and the American Academy in Rome (Rome Prize).
"...by pairing buildings and urban spaces with the tenets of Venturi's work, including "ambiguity," "contradiction" (both "adapted" and "juxtaposed"), and the "double-functioning element," Robert Venturi's Rome is quickly revealed to be more complex, and yes, more contradictory, than a standard travel guide of the Fodor's or Rick Steves variety." --Architect's Newspaper
"...fans of Venturi and of Rome will find many worthwhile observations in this homage." --Architectural Record
Robert Venturi's Rome is both homage to the importance the original book had for us, but also an expression of the deeply rich lodes of architecture and urbanism that Rome can offer us.
Robert Venturi's Rome is ostensibly a travel book for the architecturally inclined, exploring some, though not all, of the Roman sites referenced in Complexity and Contradiction. Fisher and Harby "propose to take the reader on a journey through time and ideas by visiting and discussing nearly thirty Roman places that exemplify Venturi's revolutionary ideas," and they use the Complexity and Contradiction table of contents, and supplemental quotes from the original text, as a framework for ten short tours.