Summary of the Proceedings and Papers Presented at - World ...

Developing a Design Approach to
Roofing the Stabiae Archaeological Site
by Thomas Noble Howe
The Restoring Ancient Stabiae project (RAS) is an
ambitious undertaking to establish a major archaeological
park on the site of the partially excavated
villas of ancient Stabiae. The focus of the park will
be to present the senatorial and equestrian villa culture of
the Bay of Naples. The park will function in tandem with the
urban sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum and the rustic villa
of Boscoreale.
The masterplan (RAS Foundation)
The project was created through an unusual invitation
from the Superintendant of Pompeii to the University of
Maryland Faculty of Architecture in 1998, and later extended
to the American Academy in Rome. It is now an independent
foundation in Italy whose governing board (consiglio
d’amministrazione) consists of representatives from the Soprintendenza,
the Comitato di Stabiae Renatae (representing
local schools and business interests) and the Faculty of
Architecture of the University of Maryland. The Foundation
was created with the capability to seek and expend both EU
and foreign private funds (mainly from USA). It is the Foundation’s
responsibility to develop a coherent series of archaeological
and architectural projects and present them to
the Soprintendenza. A Master Plan was presented in 2001,
and the first excavations and constructions were scheduled
to begin soon thereafter.
italiano
The Stabiae villas were roofed soon after their initial reexcavation
in the 1950s and 1960s, which contributed considerably
to the preservation of the site. The 1980 earthquake
destroyed many modern roofs and ancient colonnades, and
provisional roofing has been put up since. Recent testing and
an experimental roof has been constructed with the support
of ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy
and the Environment).
The Master Plan stipulated a design approach
for all new structures on the site—a
visitor center, administrative offices as well
as the roofing of the sites proper—that
would make all new structures appear
lightweight and temporary and therefore
allow the Roman architectural remains to
dominate the experience of the site.
The Master Plan stipulates further that
the roofing for the villas meet three conditions:
it calls for the development of a
type of roofing which is more effective in
preserving this type of site than anything
that has come before, and it must suggest
the spatial and light conditions of the original
villas. The roofing of the Stabiae villas
present an additional design challenge as
the villas with their new roofing may become
one of the most prominent features
of the cityscape of Castellammare di Stabia.
In addition to the first two conditions,
therefore, the roofing must be effective as
a major urban monument in the cityscape
of Castellammare.
Representation of one of the views after the completion of the
Master Plan