American Academy in Rome

On July 8th, 2011, OPENINGS FOR ACADEMY CHILDREN AND GIANFRANCO BARUCHELLO…

Gianfranco Baruchello show (left) and AAR children show (right)

…were back to back engagements this evening – with the former smartly titled “Calma al Caos (e Vice Versa): Gli Artisti Emergenti da 5B” or “Calm to Chaos (and Vice Versa): The Emerging Artists of 5B” featuring an exciting and visually stimulating range of adult curated works by the children of the fellows and staff of the American Academy living in the family apartment building known as 5B (including Atia Bjornlie, Sofia Dulzaides, Allegra Brennan, Nicholas Brennan, Samuel Brennan, Sicile Gjergji, Giorgio Guerrera, Giulia Guerrera, Claire Hodge, Esther Meck, and Willard Standiford) which struck me as the best show of the year! and then it was off to Chinese food in Trastevere (yes – plus I also forgot that vegetarian in a Chinese menu just means that vegetables can be found in the dish, not that meat won’t be) to celebrate with Baruchello and friends the opening of his storefront installation around the corner at Edicola Notte.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 8, 2011 | art
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On July 4th, 2011, INDEPENDENCE DAY…

cutting of the American Academy 4th of July cake & 'Le Cercle Rouge' at Villa Medici

…American Academy-style involved an Americanissimo coleslaw, homemade potato chips, grilled hamburger with fixins, potato salad, and watermelon lunch (making for a strange greeting for newly arrived guests who heard so much about the amazing seasonal local Roman RSFP cuisine) followed by the dramatic arrival of an elaborate patriotic blueberry and strawberry decorated American flag cake – but for the evening we defected to the French Academy – Villa Medici - overlooking the city for a firework-free evening for the first night of their outdoor summer film series – kicking off with the stylish but seemingly endless (2’20″ – including a half hour heist scene that would be hard to imagine coming out of any a.d.d. Hollywood editing room today) 1970 crime thriller ‘Le Cercle Rouge‘ directed by Jean-Pierre Melville and starring Alain Delon, Gian Maria Volonté and Yves Montand.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 4, 2011 | film, food
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On July 1st, 2011, THE BEAN POLE WIGWAM…

bamboo bean pole wigwam dramatically on axis with top floor AAR corridor

…I placed on axis with the top floor Academy corridor – where I live and work – is providing some drama in the distance this morning as I wake up and head down the hall for coffee and morning garden watering.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 1, 2011 | gardens
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On June 29th, 2011, CUCUMBERS…

night portrait of Roman rooftop cucumber

…cetrioli, (two of them) are busting out, pumping up daily, from those vines creeping up the rebar structures that I installed months ago – finally, finally being put to use by those lazy climbers.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 29, 2011 | food, gardens
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On June 26th, 2011, ‘A PATTERN LANGUAGE’…

#40: Old People Everywhere, from 'A Pattern Language'

…the iconic influential book by Christopher Alexander is standard issue to architecture students since it emerged out of the Berkeley in the 1970′s, which we were introduced to in our first year design studio, but I don’t recall ever actually reading it at the time (perhaps it seemed old fashioned, folksy, retrograde, and even conservative to my youthful architecty spirit besotted by flashy theory and cool shapes) but yesterday I stumbled upon it in the Academy library, immediately swept away into the staggering radical visionary breadth of it’s 253 patterns detailed in decending order from big to small over it’s 1171 pages of brilliant pragmatic idealism, seeming to be as appropriate, urgent, and relevant today as ever – perhaps more so – my neck getting sore from nodding vigorously in agreement with so many of the proposed patterns, like ripping up the pavement on local roads and creating 51 GREEN STREETS, encouraging a diversity of ages in our communities with 40 OLD PEOPLE EVERYWHERE, designing a realm for 84 TEENAGE SOCIETY within the city for those between childhood and adulthood to establish their independence, making formal education a part of everyone’s daily life with 43 UNIVERSITY AS A MARKETPLACE, making safe and accessible places for 57 CHILDREN IN THE CITY, limiting high-rise construction with 21 FOUR-STORY LIMIT, planting 170 FRUIT TREES and 177 VEGETABLE GARDENS where we live, designing a place at home for making 178 COMPOST, leaving places for drama anywhere with 133 STAIRCASE AS A STAGE, planning for a 5 LACE OF COUNTRY STREETS that leave large expanses of open countryside between them, prioritizing places for 63 DANCING IN THE STREET, consciously welcoming 74 ANIMALS into the city, letting kids create their own play spaces like 73 ADVENTURE PLAYGROUND, encouraging the 172 GARDEN GROWING WILD, letting plants invade the built environment with 247 PAVING WITH CRACKS BETWEEN THE STONES, getting rid of conventional space-wasting and isolating bedrooms in favor of 186 COMMUNAL SLEEPING, and my favorite – leaving comfortable public places for 94 SLEEPING IN PUBLIC, and here is the complete list of all 253, which in Alexander’s words “…allow anyone, and any group of people, to create beautiful, functional, meaningful places. At the core… is the idea that people should design for themselves their own houses, streets and communities. This idea… comes simply from the observation that most of the wonderful places of the world were not made by architects but by the people.”

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By Fritz Haeg on June 26, 2011 | architecture, books
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On June 25th, 2011, YELLOW PLUMS…

yellow plums caught with flash in midday sun

…known as susine around here, in clustered abundance are bending tree branches out back with their weight while sneakily ripening to sweet perfection undetected as they remain yellowy green – but I see them and have filled a backpack to gorge on this weekend – and maybe a sugarless compote?

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By Fritz Haeg on June 25, 2011 | food
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On June 23rd, 2011, ‘HUNGRY CITY: WILD ROME’…

Carolyn Steel and Mona Talbott (left) digging into desert on a fig leaf at the end of the Hungry City: Wild Rome dinner for 120 with oily bread bag menus (center) and garden scavenged table goods

…was the loose title for this evening’s marathon of activities that I organized at the Academy – kicking off with a rousing talk by “Hungry City” author Carolyn Steel (narrowly arriving in time from London) about the relationship between food and cities – specifically Rome (wheat mills floating on the Tiber – license for a stone slab fish counter at the market worth more than a house – fake food fed to not quite distinguished enough feasting dinner guests only there to fill seats – Monte Testaccio mountain of discarded terra cotta amphorae…) taking us all the way up to present day Roman and global food and city circumstances (20% of meals in America are consumed in a car, one billion people are overweight and one billion are malnourished globally…), and happily ending at her vision of the future which she refers to as ‘sitopia‘ – after that it was responses from members of the Academy community including scholar fellow Michael Waters, architect advisor Carlo Vigevano, and RSFP chef Mona Talbott – followed by a casual reception in the vegetable garden under ripe apricot and susine laden trees – and culminating in a feast for 120 in the courtyard on one long L-shaped table under the arcade covered with coffee-dyed cast-off Academy bedsheets cum table-clothes upon which were scrawled handwritten food-related quotes from Roman residents excerpted from the upcoming Roma Mangia Roma book, then generously sprinkled and piled (like a forest floor) with all of the various random garden and kitchen detritus I had been gathering all year (pine cones; bean pods and leaves; fruits and seeds; dried sage, bay and rosemary cuttings; tufa rocks; all of my empty glass jars full of dirt and candles), plus big hunks of Roscioli bread (which looked remarkably like the lightweight tufa rocks – in a good way) and various courses served on fig leaves and grape leaf lined terra cotta roof tiles scavenged from out back – all enjoyed to the amplified sounds coordinated to the courses by Paul Rudy, and the lighting and central hanging plant branch daisy-chain chandelier by Giovanna Latis – under which the kitchen staff piled all of the goods related to the meal including a controversial lambs head which I – though vegan – was ultimately all for, since it showed those meat-eaters where their meat was coming from. (plus super big thanks to Ben Barron, Walker Williams-Smith, Sarah Ripple, and Eleonora Recupero, the classy, eager, and efficient foursome of local youth who assisted)

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By Fritz Haeg on June 23, 2011 | food
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On June 20th, SUMMER SOLTICE…

solstice light on the north facade of the American Academy in Rome (my studio and garden terrace on the upper left corner)

…is not something I happen to give much thought to, but I have been noticing the early morning and late evening sun creeping around to visit my north facing windows over the past few days, plus the fact that our neo-classical faux Roman villa Academy facade is lighting up orange in a way that is shocking – since we have only seen it in shadow the entire year – with this photo taken as a record, only later thinking to look up solstice and realizing it is tomorrow – and now the only reasonable headline for the day.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 20, 2011 | Rome
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On June 18th, 2011, STUDIO 309…

AAR studio 309

…has been home for almost a year, things move around everyday, people get confused when the desk is in a new place on each of three consecutive daily visits, things come in and out, a pile of pine cones gathers in one corner, bay leaf branches dry out, piles of glass jars accumulate and collect all of the homey kitcheny things like teas and beans and sugars and salts, work on the Roma Mangia Roma book starts to fill the walls with excerpts from the interviews in Italian and English accompanied by portraits, and even the Wikidiary you are reading is printed out and posted to mark time.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 18, 2011 | Rome
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On June 14th, 2011, THE ‘HUNGRY CITY: ROME’ EVENT…

Hungry City: Rome

…that I am organizing at the American Academy in Rome for June 23rd has just been announced – spread the word to Roman friends….

HUNGRY CITY: ROME – an evening with CAROLYN STEEL, British architect, lecturer, and author of ‘Hungry City’ on Thursday, June 23rd, 2011 at the AMERICAN ACADEMY IN ROME at Via Angelo Masina, 5

18:00 LECTURE introduced by: FRITZ HAEG, Garden Club of America Rome Prize Fellow – with responses from: MONA TALBOTT, Rome Sustainable Food Project Executive Chef; CARLO VIGEVANO, Abbate e Vigevano Architetti principal; MICHAEL WATERS, Donald and Maria Cox Pre-Doctoral Rome Prize Fellow – presentation in English, followed by garden reception – 20:30 DINNER – by ROME SUSTAINABLE FOOD PROJECT (SOLD OUT)

On June 23rd, 2011 Carolyn Steel will give a public lecture at the American Academy in Rome related to her best selling 2008 book “Hungry Cities: How Food Shapes our Lives,” which depended heavily upon early research in Rome, and how the ancient city fed itself. She will discuss the ways in which cities evolve around food, and in particular how the city of Rome has been shaped by these influences over time. Responses and questions from selected members of Academy community including chef Mona Talbott, architect Carlo Vigevano, scholar Michael Waters, and moderated by Academy fellow Fritz Haeg, will lead to an open discussion to be followed by a garden reception and a special Rome Sustainable Food Project dinner al fresco.

Carolyn Steel is an architect, lecturer and writer whose chief interest is exploring the inner lives of cities, focused on developing a lateral approach to urban design that looks at the everyday routines that shape cities and the way we inhabit them. She has run design studios at the London School of Economics, London Metropolitan University and at Cambridge University, where her lecture course ‘Food and the City’ is an established part of the degree program. Her 2008 book “Hungry City: How Food Shapes our Lives” follows food’s journey from land to city, through market and supermarket, kitchen and table, waste-dump and back again, to show how food affects all our lives, and impacts on the planet. Check out Carolyn’s book, the review in the Guardian, and TED talk.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 14, 2011 | food
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On June 12th, 2011, THE MID-SUMMERS ROMAN ROOFTOP GARDEN…

a hazy June morning in the Roman rooftop Edible Estate

…is needing a good watering every morning (that nearby Lago Bracciano is happy to oblige, providing Rome with the abundant local clean water that is the pride of this city and celebrated in it’s generous bounty of public fountains) which I am happy to offer every morning, wandering with a hose from planter to planter, getting my head eased into the day, pondering the big picture of the sprawling city framed by the volcanic mountains beyond, and paying attention to each member of the wild assortment of ambitious little plants making the most of their shallow beds and cramped roots, reaching as far up and out of the dirt as they can manage – and today the real troopers seem to be the barlotti, zucchini, and pomodorini all setting fruit, but taking their time. (Roman rooftop Edible Estate webpage)

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By Fritz Haeg on June 12, 2011 | gardens
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On June 7th, 2011, MUNTADAS…

About Academia by Antoni Muntadas

…the New York based Spanish artist gave a talk about his work this evening – including the pioneering 1994 internet art project The File Room created back in the olden timey days before most people even knew what www was – and inaugurated exhibitions at the American Academy in Rome and down the hill at Real Academia de España en Roma.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 7, 2011 | art
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On June 3rd, A ROOFTOP SUNSET DINNER PARTY…

places set for a sunset rooftop garden dinner party

…last night, just after an errant storm passed over delivering a bit of cooling rain,  was enjoyed on long rooftop garden-side peony-centered table set in the colorful vintage linens laid out by Academy friend Siena – who acquired them Porta Portese (defying my assumption that everything there was junkie) – and to eat we made the most of what is to be had in the garden right now, like squash blossoms, basil, mint, and the last of the fava beans (which I am ashamed to admit I am getting a little tired of).

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By Fritz Haeg on June 3, 2011 | gardens
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On May 28th, 2011, ROMAN ROOFTOP GARDEN NEWS…

view of Roman Rooftop this morning

…includes reports on recently planted loquat seeds; sad bean plants that are still refusing to climb up the bamboo wigwam structure that was made for them months ago; some eggplants, zucchini, and tomatoes that are starting to flower and set fruit; lots of pretty lettuce plants that are being left to bolt up like mad and make pretty purple flowers; favas that are still producing; and a bin full of ever multiplying worms that keep eating and eating.

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By Fritz Haeg on May 28, 2011 | gardens
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On May 25th, 2011, WILLIAM KENTRIDGE…

open William Kentridge studio

…is the brilliant South African artist brightening up the Academy while in residence this month – today welcoming us into his studio and sharing stories of his working process and methods – specifically in relation to a big wall collage that is a collaborative/interactive planning timeline for a new show coming up in France.

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By Fritz Haeg on May 25, 2011 | art
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On May 23rd, 2011, ACADEMY DINNERS…

the table waiting for another RSFP dinner in the AAR cortile

…have happily moved back outside – after almost seven months of meals in the formal dining room – with the warm weather to the central cortile where we gather around one super long table intoxicated by the blossoming jasmine.

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By Fritz Haeg on May 23, 2011 | food
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On May 22nd, 2011, THE STRAWBERRY REPORT…

spring strawberry arrival

…brings good news of the most regular and welcome daily fruiting arrivals in my Roman rooftop garden these days – with always a few to be found hiding in a planter – but never enough to do more than the occasional nibbling and grazing.

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By Fritz Haeg on May 22, 2011 | food
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On April 29th, 2011, SPRING PLANTINGS IN THE ROMAN ROOFTOP GARDEN…

spring view north over the Roman rooftop

…including little tomato starts, bean seeds, eggplants, basil, squash, corn, and other future pleasures of the summer finally went in the rooftop dirt this week after much delay – and now we will wake up with an extra bit of curiosity each morning to see what they are doing.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 29, 2011 | gardens
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On April 21st, 2011, PEA SHELLING SEASON…

busy hands trying to keep up with crate after crate

…is upon us which means that I am often confronted by a table full of pea pods ready for shellers when passing through the cortile on my way out for some errand which gets distracted by the sirens of those bulging pods ready for that days soup, salad, gnocchi, risotto,  pasta – and I find myself 15 minutes later so engrossed that I forgot where I was headed.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 21, 2011 | food
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On April 20th, 2011, RSFP ROOFTOP SALAD HARVEST…

Miles gathering lettuce for the Academy dinner

…was a proud moment today, as Miles from the Rome Sustainable Food Project kitchen – which energizes us with daily meals of local, seasonal, organic and delicious food made from the freshest Roman stuff around grown by farmers they know by name – arrived at my door with two empty crates inquiring about the possibility of harvesting some of my out-of-control more-than-I-can-eat bright green and burgundy lettuces taking over the Roman rooftop garden for this evening’s dinner.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 20, 2011 | Uncategorized
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On April 19th, 2011, YOGA ON THE ROOF…

rooftop garden yoga studio with four mat capacity and the occasional danger of handstands ending in muddy feet in planters

…today and frequent evenings around 17:30 is the great gift of warmer days, later sun sets, stone pavers that hold the days heat, and a critical mass of friendly yogis – especially newly arrived friend Gaby – willing to hoof it up to the top floor garden yoga studio overlooking the city for an hour or so of free movement and occasional inverted chit-chat from down-dog.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 19, 2011 | Uncategorized
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On March 26th, 2011, ROMAN ROOFTOP HOMESTEAD GARDEN UPDATE…

rooftop garden view with my studio windows beyond

…today includes happy news about the reals stars of the show at the moment, the bursting crop of fava beans (which I saw all over Praiano this week) starting to produce their gigantic pods, plus more lettuce than I can eat, pea-pods getting plumper by the day, little peach trees displaying their pink blossoms, baby potatoes asking for another harvest, strawberries that do not seem to understand it is spring, and some very slow beets which I am really starting to wonder about, but container root vegetables are sometimes tricky.

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By Fritz Haeg on March 26, 2011 | food, gardens
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On March 12th, 2011, LOGGIA OF CUPID AND PSYCHE…

looking up in the Loggia of Cupid and Psyche painted by Raphael - fruits! vegetables! nudes!

…whose ceiling is laden with the most sumptuous depictions of all variety of fruit and vegetable was painted by Raphael at Villa Farnesina (1510), and was the highlight of a day that began with the third in a series of talks by Leonard Barkan at the American Academy in Rome on “Food Culture and High Culture, Antiquity and Renaissance”.

 

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By Fritz Haeg on March 12, 2011 | art, food
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On March 6th, 2011, FRUIT TREE BLOSSOMS…

early spring blossoms

…in shades from white to pink are popping and promising spring in the back garden.

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By Fritz Haeg on March 6, 2011 | gardens
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On March 3rd, 2011, MINI MOSSY ZEN ROOF GARDEN…

Roman rooftop mini mossy Zen garden

…is something I started messing around with a few months ago (featuring a miniature landscape of tufa rocks and scavenged blocks covered with pieces of moss varieties gathered on daily walks) on the part of the roof where water stands after rains or plant-watering and in today’s morning light it is looking picturesque out my studio window.

 

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By Fritz Haeg on March 3, 2011 | gardens
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On February 28th, 2011, ’100 YEARS FROM NOW’…

Roman street posting of "100 Years from Now" (left) and Marco Raparelli portrait of designer Jeremy Mende (right)

…the series of public Roman street posters by Academy fellow Jeremy Mende (depicted in one of Marco Raparelli’s portraits) are now showing up around town! (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on February 28, 2011 | design
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On February 23rd, 2011, THE ANNUAL PRUNING OF THE OLIVE TREES…

Andrea surveys progress of the olive tree pruning

…took place this morning in grand style with freshly cut dusty green leaved olive branches covering much of the ground after the garden crew had come through to trim each tree back into a classic hollow bowl-shape which allows more light into the center of the tree. (more on pruning and more on Wikipedia)

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By Fritz Haeg on February 23, 2011 | gardens
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On February 21st, 2011, THE PEA REPORT…

the first peapods on the roof

…from the Roman Rooftop Homestead is very good indeed, with the happy plants beginning to climb up the pea-stake branches that were just installed for them, and today I notice the first peapods hiding in the bright green foliage, and then, as often happens when first discovering something, you begin to realize it is everywhere.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 21, 2011 | Uncategorized
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On February 9th, 2011, CAVALO NERO…

back-lit leafy greens (with cavalo nero in back) at sunrise in the American Academy in Rome gardens

…or ‘black cabbage’ (a loose-leaf Italian cabbage, or kale) has been on our plates almost every day this winter, and today will be no exception, as I harvest the lastest tangy dark leafy green bounty from the back garden where I help out Wednesday mornings when I can – and ‘cavalo’ is an extra expressive word, also being the Italian expletive of choice – like ‘shoot’ or ‘darn’ – when they really want to say ‘cazzo.’

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By Fritz Haeg on February 9, 2011 | food, gardens
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On January 20th, 2011, MARCO RAPARELLI…

the series of ink on paper drawings "An Unfamiliar Idea of Rome" includes portraits of current Academy fellows Dike Blair, Sarah Oppenheimer, and Karen Yasinksy (or at least her glasses)

…will present the series of ink on paper portraits he has been working on for the past four months while in residence at the American Academy in Rome (my neighbor down the hall on the top floor) of various members of the A.A.R. community – displayed in a grid of frames in the bar along side the series of portraits of fellows from the past 100 years – as a part of the show “Academia Stanze Persone” of previous Italian artists in residence at the Academy – opening tonight. (more information)

The American Academy in Rome presents ACCADEMIA·STANZE·PERSONE, an exhibit featuring works by Italian artists, Residents of the American Academy in Rome from 2006 to 2011: Manfredi Beninati, Carola Bonfili, Emanuele Casale, Flavio Favelli, Massimo Gezzi, Giovanna Latis, Guido Mazzoni, Luca Nostri, Filippo Perocco, Paola Pivi, Marco Raparelli, Gian Maria Sforza, SISSI, Nico Vascellari, and Luca Vitone. Curated by Luca Massimo Barbero, Director of MACRO, Roma and Lexi Eberspacher, Programs Associate, American Academy in Rome. The opening will take place 20 January 2011 from 6:00pm-9:00pm. Running from the 21 January through 3 March 2011, the exhibit is open 9:30am to 12:30pm Tuedays, Wednesdays and Fridays. www.aarome.org

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By Fritz Haeg on January 20, 2011 | art
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On January 7th, 2011, ORANGES AND LEMONS…

Roman oranges and lemons assembled and waiting by the sink

…from the trees out back are keeping me buzzed on a daily infusion of fresh citrus – when I arrived in September  it was the grapes and figs – later it was the persimmons – and this Spring and Summer I’m looking forward to availing myself of the Roman classics: artichokes and capers.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 7, 2011 | food, Rome
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On January 5th, 2011, THE WORM REPORT…

a close up view of the Roman red worms getting busy - mostly eating, pooping, and reproducing

…is good, they are devouring my kitchen scraps (about 3 pounds a week), turning it into sweet smelling fertile black-gold worm casting compost, and reproducing like crazy (lots of little babies) – all from the comfort of their plastic bin which feels like the essential heart of the Roman Rooftop Homestead, the highlight of each garden tour when the cardboard cover is removed to introduce them to curious humans.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 5, 2011 | animals, gardens
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On December 30th, 2010, ROOFTOP POTATO HARVEST…

a modest bounty of rooftop baby potatoes

…is the surprising legacy of the potato plants that were cut down by the one night of frost up on the roof last week – and as I am back in the happy business of gardening in the sun, moving dirt, emptying the pots of ill-fated wild transplants, moving salad starts into bigger flats, transplanting eager artichokes into more spacious accommodations, and optimistically planting even more fava bean stalks knowing full well they may come to naught – I come across the hidden golden treasures ready for a minestrone of verdure, farro e lenticchie. (more about the Roman rooftop homestead)

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By Fritz Haeg on December 30, 2010 | gardens
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On December 20th, 2010, BACK TO THE ROOFTOP…

Roman Rooftop Homestead at dusk

…for the Roman Rooftop Homestead plants – returning from their warm holiday retreat in my makeshift window greenhouse – now that this city has returned to it’s Mediterranean-climate senses with night time temperatures back above freezing.

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By Fritz Haeg on December 20, 2010 | gardens
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On December 18th, 2010, A WARM GARDEN BUBBLE…

plant refugees from my Roman rooftop garden huddle up against heater and East window in their new bubble greenhouse

…has been created in my East studio window this morning, providing a new winter retreat for my rooftop plant refugees as sub-freezing temperatures arrive in Rome  evidenced by the ice forming in the Academy fountain out in the courtyard below….and hey, it just started to snow (which is only supposed to happen every 20 years?), now googling “warm winter beach yoga retreats.”

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By Fritz Haeg on December 18, 2010 | gardens
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On December 10th, 2010, LIVE PAUL RUDY MUSIC WITH YOGA…

AAR music fellow Paul Rudy getting comfortable on the floor of my studio surrounded by his instruments

…today and almost every day at 5pm in my studio has been a revelation (having previously always needed a daily lead yoga class, too bored or distracted to be able to do it on my own, and enjoying the non-verbal community and energy of a group) – as we gather in a circle, starting out together, with basic breathing and stretching exercises, then moving into our own practice, each doing his or her own thing, at times riffing off each other, all the while accompanied and inspired by the rich acoustic environment of Paul’s vocals and handmade sound experiments created by a modest collection of instruments surrounding him on the floor: the pouring of water, the dragging of a drum across the floor, the breathing of a toy accordion…

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By Fritz Haeg on December 10, 2010 | music, yoga
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On December 7th, 2010, PLASTIC BOTTLE SEED-STARTER COLD-HOUSE WATER-CATCHMENT…

bottle gardening, before (left), 'cold-cover' arrangement with cover to keep the plants warm on cool nights (middle), and 'water-catchment' arrangement with bottom on top to collect water in hot dry weather (right)

…is a simple little system I have going on the Roman rooftop garden (also known as Edible Estate #9: Rome, Italy) which involves collecting unwanted empty containers (from American Academy residents, who also happen to write their names on their bottles when they leave them in the communal kitchens, which adds a really cute personal kindergarten-like detail to the garden) – and then (a) they are cut in half (b) the cap is placed inside the bottom of the neck to keep the soil in place (c) the ‘top’ half is then filled with soil and planted with seeds (d) the ‘bottom’ is then either used as a cold-cover or base to catch water depending on the weather.

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By Fritz Haeg on December 7, 2010 | gardens
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On November 26th, 2010, DOUBLE RAINBOW OVER VILLA AURELIA…

the typical rainbow view out my studio window towards Villa Aurelia

…(the 17th Century Palazzo owned by the American Academy and now used for special events and accomodating special guests) out my window today has almost become a mundane daily event as we experience constant rain showers puntuated by an occasional teasing burst of sunshine.

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By Fritz Haeg on November 26, 2010 | Rome
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On November 24th, 2010, SCREENING OF VIDEO BY KAREN YASINSKY…

still from 'Marie' by Karen Yasinsky

…a fellow American Academy fellow this year – was a real pleasure, the highlight of the day, a 3.5 minute video she made in 2009 inspired by one of my favorite films, and described by Karen as “…a drawing animation based on a scene from Robert Bresson’s film ‘Au Hasard Balthazar.‘ It is a close-up profile of the character Marie speaking. She looks sad and earnest. Or rather blank. I rotoscoped it which involved saving the scene as a series of jpegs, 30 images per second and then drawing each image using a light box. There are several interruptions to her speaking when the image changes. It moves down and off the page then comes back from the top; it becomes an image made of small squares then changes colors; and finally the squares show the negative images. There are also series when every other image is a different color, moving through the spectrum, with the original black line on white in between. This creates a strobing effect. The sound, by Snacks (Tom Boram and Dan Breen) uses a piece by Brahms, static sounds; tremolo and other sounds to match these interruptions. Brahms plays while she calmly speaks but only partial sounds come out of her mouth. She doesn’t communicate.” (more of the interview)

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By Fritz Haeg on November 24, 2010 | art
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On November 23rd, 2010, THE VILLA AT DORIA PAMPHILJ…

today's view of Casino del Bel Respiro at Villa Doria Pamphilj

…set within the biggest landscaped public park in Rome (previously mentioned here) and located just behind the American Academy in Rome on top of the Gianicolo – is the 17th century palace of the Pamphilj family later passed to Prince Giovanni Andrea IV Doria, which looks like an elaborate white frosted cake especially when the sun is low and set off by another of the seemingly endless stream of approaching storm clouds. (wikipedia)

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By Fritz Haeg on November 23, 2010 | Rome
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On November 21st, 2010, PETER SELLARS, DAWN UPSHAW, GEOFF NUTTALL…

Dawn Upshaw (far left), Geof Nuttall (second right), and Peter Sellars (in yellow), and the rest of the 'Kafka Fragments' family at the rooftop garden at the American Academy in Rome after lunch

…and the rest of the American family-like team putting on the show ‘Kafka Fragments,’ (originally commissioned for Carnegie Hall in 2005, later performed everywhere from the Barbican in London to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and presented by Romaeuropa this weekend) came over for a lunch visit yesterday – and I can’t wait to see the production later this afternoon at the Palladium in the Garbatella zone of Rome which features Dawn Upshaw singing Gyorgy Kurtag’s explosive compositions while performing quotidian domestic chores – scrubbing floors, doing the dishes, ironing the laundry – accompanied by Geof Nuttall on violin – and staged by the brilliant Peter Sellars, who was part of the lively conversation at the New York Public Library marking the release of the first edition of the Edible Estates book in 2008. (Kafka Fragments at Romaeuropa)

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By Fritz Haeg on November 21, 2010 | Rome, theater
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On November 20th, 2010, PERSIMMON LEAVES…

persimmon (cachi) leaves

…are on fire and providing bolts of brilliant color in the gardens behind the Academy, especially on the ground as the big leaves pile up in a spectrum from bright yellows to deep magentas.

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By Fritz Haeg on November 20, 2010 | landscape design
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On November 19th, 2010, A RAINBOW OVER THE ROMAN ROOFTOP GARDEN…

Roman rooftop garden rainbow

…this morning is a welcome punctuation to endless days of November Roman rain.

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By Fritz Haeg on November 19, 2010 | Rome
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On November 5th, 2010, LETTUCE IN CARTONS…

lettuce in silver-lined milk and juice cartons

…is beginning to pop up – obviously enjoying the alternating sunny and rainy weather we have been having – and creating brilliant contrasts between the raw wood crates containing the colorful graphic wrapped cartons with their shiny silver interiors holding the bright spring green shoots.

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By Fritz Haeg on November 5, 2010 | gardens
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On November 4th, 2010, POTATOES GROWING IN BURLAP COFFEE BEAN BAGS IN WOOD FRUIT CRATES…

potato sack potatos

…is the cute, rustic, and homespun exception to my otherwise ‘trashy’ (in the best sense) garden of exclusively found, salvaged, and recycled goods with all of the plants growing in the random empty containers I have gathered around the Academy – but those potatoes are really looking classy.

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By Fritz Haeg on November 4, 2010 | gardens
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On October 28th, 2010, FIRE DRILL AT THE ACADEMY…

camp fire under a stone pine

…was an unexpectedly fun communal post-lunch social event signaled by the alarm bells and then culminating with the entire American Academy in Rome community gathered around a welcome campfire – serving as an emergency extinguishing demonstration – on a chilly Fall afternoon.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 28, 2010 | Rome
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October 27th, PAPER MACHE BALLOON MASKS…

three paper mache ballon masks made with Italian newspaper and flour, known as 'farina'

…are being made for the kids, and some of the adults, at the Academy tonight.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 27, 2010 | crafts
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On October 26th, 2010, DINNER WITH ALICE WATERS…

cold season row covers at the American Academy in Rome kitchen gardens

…at the American Academy in Rome tonight (over the delightful food prepared in the kitchen she revolutionized, and presided over by the indomitable indefatigable Mona Talbott) was a highlight of autumnal Rome for me , as we sat for 3 hours absorbed in conversation about food, art, gardens, and culture occasionally interrupted by animated stories of people we both love and admire like the brilliant Peter Sellars – who she had to drop everything for in the middle of the meal to have a picture of the two of us taken by her assistant Verun with her iPhone to immediately send to Peter and let him know we were both thinking of him – and at some point in the future I might get my hands on that photo of us smiling in the Academy dining room and post it here, but in the mean time I share with you the image of the plastic row covers installed over the new seedlings in the kitchen garden this morning as the night time temperatures drop towards 45 degrees – but I like the way they look – as if you mean business, like mini radical 1970′s counter-cultural architecture.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 26, 2010 | gardens
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On October 24th, 2010, ROMAN ROOFTOP HOMESTEAD ARRANGEMENT…

Roman rooftop homestead arrangement 3.0

…is at version 3.0 with small revisions every day, and now my worm compost bin is outside too, so the worms can get a little fresh air.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 24, 2010 | gardens, Rome
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On October 22nd, 2010, A SUNSET OVER ROOFTOP GARDEN PROGRESS…

my Roman rooftop as the sun sets over the current garden plan

…this evening as I continue to figure out what form this rooftop homestead should take, though I suspect it will continue to change, evolve, and mutate through the year.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 22, 2010 | gardens, Rome
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On October 17th, 2010, A ROMAN ROOFTOP HOMESTEAD…

the beginning of my Roman rooftop garden

…is what I’ll be gradually making for myself this year, including a kitchen garden, bat and bee estates, worm compost bins, laundry lines, a garden of plants for textile dyes, etc. – but only with materials, containers, seeds, plants, dirt that are found or scavenged – and here is a little preview…

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By Fritz Haeg on October 17, 2010 | gardens, Rome
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On September 25, 2010, DAILY COMMUNAL LUNCH AT THE ACADEMY…

around 60 fellows, staff, and visitors gather around the lunch table for a midday communal moment

…is the biggest pleasure of the day (next to dinner), where everyone lines up at a serving table laden with the local, seasonal, organic, gorgeous creations by the Rome Sustainable Food Project kitchen at the Academy, and then sit down at one endless table in the cortile for conversation over some of the best meals I have ever had – featuring lots of Roman beans, vegetables, and fruits that are even satisfying this vegan – and I still can’t believe this is the new ‘normal,’ where every meal, every day feels like a special event.

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By Fritz Haeg on September 25, 2010 | food, Rome
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On September 19th, 2010, GIOVANNI BERNABEI…

Giovanni Bernabei at his stand at the Testaccio market

…is the farmer just outside of Rome – who supplies most of the fresh, local, seasonal, and organic produce to chef Mona Talbott at the American Academy in Rome (they have a picture of him up on the wall in the kitchen) – and this morning Mona introduced me to him at his stand at the first market of the season in Testaccio – and I hear that he will take me in as part of the family when I start to go up there and spend time on his farm – can’t wait! (more on the Rome Sustainable Food Project – and much more to come here…)

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By Fritz Haeg on September 19, 2010 | agriculture, food, Rome
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On September 18th, 2010, STUDIO 309…

studio 309 at the American Academy in Rome

…on the top floor of the main building (designed by one of the primary founders of the Academy, Charles Follen McKim of McKim Mead and White) of the American Academy in Rome is where I have been fortunately placed for the year, with a big terrace to the side, and panoramic view of Rome from our vantage point above Trastevere and on top of the Gianicolo – and I’m just getting settled – while thinking about starting a Roman homestead up here.

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By Fritz Haeg on September 18, 2010 | Rome
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On September 15th, 2010, THE LIBRARY AT THE AMERICAN ACADEMY IN ROME…

The Arthur Ross Reading Room of the recently renovated American Academy in Rome library

…is one of the great treasures of the facilities here, and I finally got my official tour by the librarian today – having missed it this weekend – and I’m looking forward to spending a lot of time here – especially at odd hours, since Academy fellows have 24 hr access – I am already getting excited about cuddling up at 3am in one of the reading rooms with a book like “The food of Rome and Lazio : history, folklore, and recipes” by Oretta Zanini De Vita. (more info from the AAR)

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By Fritz Haeg on September 15, 2010 | architectural, Rome
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On September 9th, 2010, THE AMERICAN ACADEMY IN ROME VEGETABLE BEDS…

the new vegetable beds in the Mercedes and Sid R. Bass Garden

…were established as part of the new Rome Sustainable Food Project spearheaded by Alice Waters (in beds originally created for cut flowers in the Bass Garden behind the Academy) have been on my mind since I first found out that I would be coming here a few months ago – and I am finally here and looking forward to helping out the gardeners on Wednesday mornings to learn what I can about growing food in this climate – but we will be starting by pulling out the summer crops, spreading some compost, and planting seeds for the Fall and Summer. (more on the Bass Garden)

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By Fritz Haeg on September 9, 2010 | gardens, Rome
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On September 8th, 2010, ROMAN FRONT LAWN…

the front lawn of the American Academy in Rome

…American Style can be viewed out my 4th floor studio window looking down on the Academy entry court from Via Angelo Masina, mmm….

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By Fritz Haeg on September 8, 2010 | Rome
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On May 7th, 2010, JOSHUA G. STEIN OF RADICAL CRAFT…

Reef at Storefront for Art & Architecture in New York City by Joshua G. Stein of Radical Craft and Rob Ley of Urbana

…came over for lunch today, we met ages ago when he first moved to L.A. in 2003, and I’ll be seeing lots more of him while we are in residence at the American Academy in Rome for a year starting this fall (Radical Craft website).

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By Fritz Haeg on May 7, 2010 | architecture
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On April 15th, 2010, THE AMERICAN ACADEMY IN ROME…

the campus of the American Academy in Rome atop Janiculum Hill

… is hosting a ceremony in New York to announce the Rome Prize – I’ll be in residence at the American Academy in Rome for a year starting in early September – stay tuned for stories from Italy… (website and ceremony brochure PDF)

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By Fritz Haeg on April 15, 2010 | Rome
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