Rome

On February 16th, 2012, BUS FROM ROME TO PESCARA…

Montagne Maella viewed from the bus from Rome to Pescara

…took me from Tiburtina station (after landing at Fiumicino – followed by a quick detour to Piramide where I met with friends and collaborators about the upcoming Roma Mangia Roma book from Nero still in the editing process) – through the white mountains to this city on the Adriatic under a fluffy white blanket after weeks of record snow, which will be my home base for the next few days while snooping around for my upcoming spring residency and project at the nearby Pollinaria farm.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 16, 2012 | Italy
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On July 28th, 2011, CIAO ROMA, CIAO, CIAO, CIAO…

leaving Fiumicino and flying up the Lazian coast

…was sad to say this morning at 10:15am as we took off from Fiumicino, USA bound for a couple of weeks before returning to bounce around Europe for projects, talks, research, and even a little recreation for most of the rest of the year.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 28, 2011 | Rome, travel
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On July 27th, 2011, THE STREETS OF ROME…

streets of Rome, on our way to the last interview and handmade street signs proclaiming that 'we have all become Americans'

…were savored today on this, my last day living in the city, with last bike rides to last interviews – today near Piramide – for the Roma Mangia Roma book, and a last day biking by the crazy elaborate hand lettered signs of rant/protest which I finally took the time to read today, starting with it’s headline proclaiming/lamenting that “we have all become Americans”.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 27, 2011 | Rome
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On July 26th, 2011, A NEW HOME FOR THE ROMAN ROOFTOP GARDEN…

a happy new home on the ground at the Ex-SNIA community center for the Roman rooftop garden

…on the ground of the former parking lot at the Ex-SNIA community center – a vast abandoned industrial complex east of Termini being reclaimed by trees and meadows and groups like Ciclofficina where you can get your bike fixed for free, also known in the 90′s for it’s raves, but now more frequently offering a place for the local unemployed and immigrant communities to gather, meet and hold events – so yesterday a big truck showed up at the Academy on the West side of town to haul the entirety of the Roman Rooftop garden to Ex-SNIA on the east side of town where local organizer installed it in a smart new arrangement working around a few existing plantings (such as a few small fruit trees and zucchini in bathtubs) and integrating locally scavenged materials in the spirit of the original garden (like wood palettes for enclosure and to lift the planting beds off the ground since this is highly contaminated soil), which was born and raised in high isolation on top of a building on top of a hill on the other side of the river, and will now continue to thrive down on the ground as the center of meals and community activities.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 26, 2011 | gardens
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On July 23rd, 2011, INTERVIEWS OFF VIA APPIA…

an old family house hidden in the woods and fields off Rome's Via Appia

…for the Roma Mangia Roma book take us this morning to a house in the most remarkable location on extensive grounds covered with thick woods, picturesque meadows, modest fruit orchards, and casual vegetable gardens, right off the ancient Roman road, where our thirty-something Roman subject grew up, where her parents continue to live on the top floor, where her brother lives downstairs, and where she shares the neighboring quarters with her Japanese boyfriend who used to work in an Italian restaurant in Tokyo (but has now lived in Rome for 7 years, the first few months of which he tried to make Japanese food, but when he realized that the proper ingredients just couldn’t be found, he surrendered and eats a typical contemporary Roman diet now, starting every day with a cornetto and cappuccino) – all of which made for some good talks about food, cities, culture, Rome, Tokyo, and what it means to share a house with your family, grow your own food in the city, and be dislocated from your homeland.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 23, 2011 | food, Rome
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On July 22nd, 2011, Y.A.P. AT MAXXI…

lawn and laterns in the MAXXI courtyard by local architects stARTT

…is the Young Architects Program originated at NYC’s PS1 and now a new summer fixture at Rome’s MAXXI, where young Roman architects have created rolling mounds of lawn, punctuated by red tulip-like lanterns, where this evening people are lounging, dogs are running, kids are playing (one in particular seeming to be around six who is consumed with creating what would seem to be a stop-motion video animation with a doll that he will pose, run to the top of a near-by mound, take a photo, then run back to slightly change the pose – maybe the hope for the future of Italian cinema?), and other like us have come to listen to the final installment of an evening of music organized my Roman friends – the amazing boys of Nero.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 22, 2011 | architecture, art
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On July 21st, 2011, PIGNETO…

the old Pigneto man and his domestic street art

…is the working class but now newly cool-ish youthful-ish (for this city at least) neighborhood of Rome, just beyond Termini and Porta Maggiore, where word is that things are happening, but I never seem to make it there – since it is a bike ride to the other side of town for me – but today we went to visit a possible home for the rooftop garden (to be donated to a local organization when I leave town) which happily happens to be in Pigneto, leading us to a tranquil walk through it’s streets, culminating in the acquaintance of an old man making himself comfortable on a chair out his front door next to his domestic street art creations that involve intricate paintings on his post box, gas meter panel, front gate, door…where we struck up an impromptu conversation.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 21, 2011 | art, Rome
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On July 18th, 2011, ‘ROMA MANGIA ROMA’ INTERVIEWS #18-21…

the family home on the ground floor of this newish apartment building with underground parking also features a vast hidden orto

…took us to a family of three generations living in a newish housing development about 8 km south of central Rome – still within the Grande Raccordo Anulare, bordered by a few other housing developments, a few isolated farms, and to the east by the Parco Regionale dell’Appia Antica (the vast greenbelt flowing from the countryside into Rome and terminating at the Circo Massimo) – where they are lucky enough to have the space for a big orto (too bad we don’t have such a specific word in English for the homegrown kitchen/vegetable garden) tended by the definitive cook and oldest member of the family (who grew up Bagheria, Sicily – the picturesque coastal town where the 1988 film Cinema Paradiso was set – in the 1930′s and 40′s in a completely self-sufficient household where they even ate the bread made with wheat grown on their own land) where he is playing out his nostalgic memories of his childhood garden with mammoth Cucuzza Sicilian squash and Sicilian tomato varieties, and at his own family table he is adamant that all are seated together each night at the precise moment that his culinary creations are ready – which his 18 year old son tolerates less and less, as he is out most nights with his his friends (sometimes enjoying quick fast food, that he even convinved his father to try once when they were on a road trip) and his girlfriend of Veneto decent, though in a separate interview acknowledging his appreciation for that one occasion each day that the whole family is together and grudgingly admitting that he will likely require the same of his own family in the future.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 18, 2011 | books, food
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On July 9th, 2011, GARBATELLA VS. CORVIALE…

ochres of Garbatella (left) and grey of Corviale (right)

…was the story of the day as we made long anticipated pilgrimages to both planned communities just outside of the Roman center, starting with the 11-story 1 kilometer-long crazy Corviale housing block of 1200 apartments and 6000 people in this endless concrete Le Corbusier Unités-d’Habitation-gone-wild folly designed by a team of Italian architects headed by Mario Fiorentino – and a 1 km long building in the middle of the Roman countryside might sound like a neat idea, and it might look amazing from a distance, but of course the closer you get, the sadder it is, and the best that one might be able to say about it now is that the otherwise penned-in tenants enjoy either views of Rome out one side or else they get to look at rolling fields and cows out the other…and from the grey it was on to the ochre baroque rococo fascist Garden City (Borgata Giardino) inspired delights of Garbatella, the working class fantasy land designed and built through the 20′s and 30′s by many hands to suggest the intimate small town rural living environment which many of the original residents where moving from, which you can still feel as you catch glimpses down certain streets when the sun is low, the sense of being in a small Lazian farming village, but in a sophisticated Roman baroquey sort of way – but the treasures are the variety of garden courtyards that each of the blocks face in to, originally meant to be vegetable gardens, they are now untended (I just want to get my hands on one of those big empty round ones) – but I suppose that just adds to it’s rough romantic patinaed lived-in state which, wow, really feels charged and magic. (some Corviale videos here and here)

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By Fritz Haeg on July 9, 2011 | architecture
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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 3rd, 2011, TRAJAN’S FORUM…

Saturday night at Trajan's Forum

…on a Saturday night all lit up in lavenders and yellows looked a little Roman-themed Vegas Strip mixed with gladiator-themed gay disco – but I’m not complaining, it’s fun to see the Italians really occupy their cities in the summer, when every public park, villa, ruin, sanctuary, etc. can boast it’s own summer stage with scaffolding and black velvet – and even the lungotevere is temporarily occupied, by an endless chain of circus-like white tents housing trattorie and bars creating a line of wild nightlife where there is typically a refuge of tranquility -the birds down there must be confused.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 3, 2011 | architecture, Rome
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On July 2nd, 2011, A WILD BOUQUET…

wild morning bouquet on the table

…of lavender, yarrow, and other colorful back garden finds was assembled this morning in anticipation of old friends arriving from the other side of the planet for their first visit to Italy.

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By Fritz Haeg on July 2, 2011 | flowers
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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 30th, 2011, TEATRO DELLE ESPOSIZIONI 2 AT VILLA MEDICI…

the mysterious couple from the show, and Villa Medici with St. Peter's in the background

…which I arrived to from an earlier opening at Unosunove this magical warm summer evening by bicycle – locked up below at Piazza di Spagna to hoof it up the 132 Scalinata della Trinità dei Monti steps for shows presented by the French Academy fellows incluing films, a wandering bassoonist, an installation in the magnificent Islamic room on top of one of the towers, carefully arranged and spotlit plaster statues and period furniture in studio windows, (ugh, we missed the naked hula hooping performance from the Monday show) the highlight being an elaborate performance by Rémy Yadan in the formal salone overlooking the city where a cast of around ten formally dressed performers arrived – the rest remaining impossible to describe, but involving standing around for a long time making subtle tsking noises, moving a piano around, walking hurriedly across the room, operatic singing, energetic dancing, monologs directed face to face at particular audience members in French, opening of windows and then closing of windows, mooing, crying with backs to us, and towards the end, the doors to the terrace overlooking the city opened and in walked a mysterious couple who proceeded to walk out of the room onto the the back loggia where they stood still for the rest of the evening – so people looked at them and took pictures – some were mystified, especially those who hadn’t even seen the show.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 30, 2011 | France, performance
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On June 28th, 2011, FANS ON THE STREET…

fans for sale on Via Portuense

…are a sure sign that Roman summer heat has arrived (though locals tell me it is just getting warmed up – wait til August they say) near Porta Portese – where I have come to visit the super sweet guys at Manzo Cicli on the medieval-seeming narrow cobblestone side street just above Via Portuense which is the moto/bici epicenter of Rome – to have my bicycle brakes fixed after a sudden cable-snap while braking and speeding down the Gianicolo yesterday.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 28, 2011 | Rome
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On June 24th, 2011, ROMA MANGIA ROMA INTERVIEW #15…

Baruchello in his studio surrounded by framed photos and drawings, including a portrait with his old friend and hero Marcel Duchamp

…conducted yesterday just blocks from my studio on the top floor of a modern Monteverde apartment building was with Gianfranco Baruchello (b. 1924) – the Roman artist whose book “How to Imagine” and 1970′s farm as art project Agricola Cornelia have been a recent inspiration – and we got comfortable in the living area of his studio while unraveling tales of his youth, war years, counter-cultural bohemian days, early art works (time lapse images of a pizza the shape of Italy slowly being devoured) and up to his present daily life as described through food.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 24, 2011 | art, books
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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 22nd, 2011, IL VASCHELLO…

Il Vascello propietors Angelo and Dorina

…is the friendly, local, slightly hidden, Monteverde trattoria – just outside of the Aurelian wall from us – presided over since the early 80′s by gregarious hostess Dorina and Sardegnian chef Angelo, whom we have come to visit this afternoon for interview #14 for the upcoming Roma Mangia Roma book (featuring interviews with five generation of people living in Rome about food, how they eat, earliest culinary memories, etc…), to hear their stories of growing up in rural areas, coming to Rome, working in a restaurant under a nurturing father-like mentor prankster chef next to the Pantheon, and finally establishing  Il Vascello – by now a familial hang-out for friends, regulars, locals, the film crowd (such as Gianni de Gregorio) and foreign residents like us – Dorina loves America and has memorized the U.S. state capitals by heart, reciting them in alphabetical order when she can’t fall asleep.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 22, 2011 | food
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On June 21st, 2011, TIVOLI…

from the top of Villa D'Este looking towards Rome

…is up against the Sabine Hills – which I am always staring at while tapping away at the keyboard or watering the plants since I have a direct view of them from the studio and garden – just east of Rome, but this morning we went west, north, east, south and then finally east to go due east, taking the Grande Raccordo Anulare again to short circuit the congested city center on what seemed like the hottest day of the year to visit the town‘s three treasures of Villa Adriana, Villa Gregoriana and, Villa D’Este. (nothing like showy Renaissance waterworks and mossy dark grottoes on a hot Italian afternoon).

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By Fritz Haeg on June 21, 2011 | travel
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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 17th, 2011, AGRICOLA CORNELIA…

the wheat fields of Agricola Cornelia

…the storied piece of hilly agricultural land within a nature reserve, north of town, off the Via Cassia, and just outside of the Grande Raccordo Anulare, is where I surprisingly find myself wandering the fields of wheat today – after having written about my inspiring read of the 1984 book “How to Imagine: a Narrative on Art, Agriculture, and Creativity” about the Italian artist Gianfranco Baruchello’s experience of farming this very piece of land in the 1970′s as an art project, now home his Fondazione Baruchello – where I hope to return and hang out when I can, now that I have the pleasure of knowing him – and looking forward to our upcoming interview for the “Roma Mangia Roma” book.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 17, 2011 | agriculture
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On June 15th, 2011, VILLA LANTE AL GIANICOLO…

the view of Rome from the rear loggia at Villa Lante al Gianicolo

…the 16th century hill top residence designed by Giulio Romano, now owned by the Republic of Finland, was the site of the first day of the conference History and Environment in the  Ancient Mediterranean “…bringing together scholars and scientists from a broad range of disciplines to discuss the effects of climate, urbanization, and the use of natural resources on the ancient Mediterranean environment and their relevance to contemporary environmental problems.” – and wow, what a view out the back loggia! (wikipedia)

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By Fritz Haeg on June 15, 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 11th, 2011, LADY GAGA AT EUROPRIDE…

Circo Massimo crowds anticipate Gaga

…filled Circo Massimo (where ancient Romans raced chariots, staged mock ship battles, and held religious festivals) with a reported million people – for a speech and a couple of songs on piano tonight – concluding the parade that started at Piazza della Repubblica, marched through the city, down Via dei Fori Imperiali, around the Coliseum – stopping periodically for impromptu dance parties in the streets to the deep pulsing bass of mega-speaker laden trucks – but the best part by far was watching the beaming relieved Italian faces (otherwise burdened by the daily spectacle of an embarrassing political and cultural environment in a gradual 17 year – Berlusconi took national office May 10, 1994 – dispiriting downward spiral making international headlines) of all ages and walks of life witnessing a rare display of diversity celebration on their streets.

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By Fritz Haeg on June 11, 2011 | queer
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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 June 2nd, 2011, A ROMAN MILITARY PARADE…

military parade arriving at Piazza Venezia

…is the spectacle I was greeted to after racing down the Gianicolo on my bike – with 80 heads of state in attendance (including U.S. V.P. Biden whose motorcade I had to avoid after Carabinieri were yelling at me to pull off to the side of Corso Emanuelle II – later finding out he was on his way up to the American Academy for lunch with our ambassador at Villa Aurelia) celebrating 65 years of the republic on the year of it’s 150th anniversary of unification – and after the crowds gathered at the parade terminus of Piazza Venezia and the distant equestrian squad arriving from Via Dei Fori Imperiali signaled the arrival of the parade, hundreds of Italian children were suddenly hoisted on to parents shoulders for a better view of what would turn out to be a rather frightening military display of tanks, troops, drones, missiles, boats, planes, cavalry, and best of all: an amazing runway-like presentation of fit soldiers in an array of very fabulous vintage uniforms – and finally, just when we thought it was all over, Frecce Tricolori, the deafening blast of nine military jets in formation leaving trails of green, white and, red directly overhead. (more at Corriere della Sera)

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By Fritz Haeg on June 2, 2011 | Rome
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On May 31st, 2011, THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET…

exotic veggies at Roman market

…near Termini is a destination this morning after tours of the playground of a nearby elementary school and the roof of an institution for the mentally handicapped – possible future homes for my Roman rooftop garden which will have to be relocated when I leave at the end of July.

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By Fritz Haeg on May 31, 2011 | food
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On May 29th, 2011, CRITICAL MASS ROMAN STYLE…

critical mass bikers hanging out at Villa Doria Pamfilj

…is what I happened upon this afternoon – just when I thought there was no real alternative culture of resistance in this city – under the canopy of the Roman stone pines at Villa Doria Pamfilj where the landscape was covered with bikes and their riders enjoying the stellar Sunday afternoon after a weekend of Roman Critical Mass bicycle events.

 

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By Fritz Haeg on May 29, 2011 | Rome
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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 27th, 2011, ROSE ARBOR…

rose arbor at Villa Doria Pamfilj

…is full of red at the big neighboring park of Villa Doria Pamfilj where the turning weather of hot summer days is sending me for daily bike rides and to lounge on blankets with books under trees.

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By Fritz Haeg on May 27, 2011 | landscape, Rome
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On May 26th, 2011, CONTRAILS…

contrails over rooftop bean wigwam

…over the rooftop garden were lit up by a Roman sunset tonight.

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By Fritz Haeg on May 26, 2011 | Rome
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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 21st, 2011, DUCKS IN THE FONTANA DELL’ACQUA PAOLA…

a duck couple cooling off in the Aqua Paola

…or ‘Fontanone‘ just down the hill from us on top of the Gianicolo – were spotted cooling off this afternoon – frolicking on a hot afternoon in the shady pool of fresh water arriving from the Acqua Paola Roman Acquaduct.

 

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By Fritz Haeg on May 21, 2011 | animals
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On May 19th, 2011, HIDDEN VILLA MEDICI GARDEN…

hidden statuary garden

…of statuary is something I happened upon for the first time this afternoon as the sun was low while visiting a French friend in residence at the famous villa and gardens – that I still remember studying in architecture school – later acquired by Napoleon in 1803 as the new home for the French Academy.

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By Fritz Haeg on May 19, 2011 | gardens
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On May 18th, ‘ROMA MANGIA ROMA’ INTERVIEW #10…

visit to Roman farm off Via Cassia with photographer Gilda Aloisi and Nero editor Lorenzo Gigotti

…this afternoon was with the amazing urban farmer Matteo Amati who presides over an enormous tract of city land where unemployed youth are put to work on the cultivation of the fruit tree orchard, the groves of olive trees, and the rotating fields of strawberries, fava beans, potatoes, tomatoes, etc….and this is giving me some sense of what much of the land just outside the Aurelian Walls must have looked like not so long ago. (Roma Mangia Roma)

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By Fritz Haeg on May 18, 2011 | agriculture
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On May 17th, 2011, LANDING OVER LIDO DI OSTIA…

endless line of Lido di Ostia beach clubs and cabanas

…is a welcome way to return to Italy this afternoon and the promise of a coming summer, making our approach to Fiumicino from the south in a straight line over the coastline of private beach clubs.

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By Fritz Haeg on May 17, 2011 | Rome
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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 28th, 2011, HANGING GREEN STUFF…

a green curtain hanging over a street in Monti

…and plants growing out of and in to unexpected places is always a welcome surprise when turning any corner in Rome – as I did this afternoon in Monti to find my self biking under this hanging green veil.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 28, 2011 | Rome
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On April 22nd, 2011, ROMAN CATS…

can you spot all four cats making themselves at home upon this ruin of a Roman wall in Largo Argentina?

…at Largo Argentina cat sanctuary (previously mentioned here) caught my attention while passing by this morning, with the feline residents seeming especially self-aware while posing for the increasing mobs of Roman tourists on the tops of the Roman ruins.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 22, 2011 | animals, Rome
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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 April 12th, ‘ROMA MANGIA ROMA’ INTERVIEW #9…

Franco & Livia in their Monti neighborhood kitchen

…was conducted this morning with Livia and Franco – who met when they were 14 and have been married for 53 years – in their cozy long-time quarters (inherited from previous generations) in the Colosseum adjacent neighborhood of Monti where he used to own the local newsstand, so it’s hard to walk with Franco more than a step or two down Via dei Serpenti without a friendly greeting – and being a former runner, and living through the war years in Rome surviving on potato milk soup, I was surprised to hear about his very simple austere tastes, eating little meat, mostly dishes like pasta in bianco and very precise small portions (exactly four biscotti every morning).

 

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By Fritz Haeg on April 12, 2011 | books
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On April 11th, 2011, PEA, FAVA & WORM POOP HARVEST…

the big beautiful fava pods posing by the worm estate, being harvested of it's rich fertile black worm stuff

…is the breaking news from the Roman rooftop garden this morning – having never grown the favas, I’ve waited until they are as big as those I’ve been seeing at the farmer’s market (which is BIG) before picking – and as far as that worm compost is concerned, I’ve been waiting all year to pull out the fertile goods – putting off the dirty work (which is now urgent since it is full of compost – great for the plants, but toxic for little squirmy guys – crawling around in their own waste and all) of somehow extracting the castings and not the worms to start a fresh new bin – of which there are a few methods, mine being the slow process of leaving the top of the bin exposed direct sunlight forcing the them to retreat down into the darker depths, and then scraping off a top layer until I find them again, and those that are too slow just end up in a planter with some other good things to eat, which isn’t so bad for them either.

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By Fritz Haeg on April 11, 2011 | gardens
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On April 10th, 2011, ‘ROMA MANGIA ROMA’ INTERVIEW #7…

his terrace overlooking the landscape of Villa Ada

…of 35 planned interviews with five generations of people living in Rome (about how they organize their homes and lives around food, their memories and current thoughts on Cucina Italiana/Romana, and how things are changing) was a fascinating two hour conversation with a distinguished 92 year old Italian film director who recounted amazing tales of growing up in rural Italy where farmers went door to door selling their homemade goods, including a particular ricotta that he has a strong memory of – but mostly it was the aromas (rather ‘profumo’ in Italian) he remembered, of the various lost foods which he can still smell, but no longer exist as they did when he was young – the tomatoes, the breads, the olive oils, the wines, the potatoes, the eggs – and then later stories of his early days in 1940′s Rome and the shock of all of the strong tastes that his Tuscan palate was not used to – but it was his off-hand remark “Quando mangio qualcosa buona, io sono più buono” towards the end of the conversation that will stay with me. (a bit more on the book)

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By Fritz Haeg on April 10, 2011 | books
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On March 18th, 2011, MONTE TESTACCIO…

ancient Roman trash, now a pretty green hill surrounded by night clubs and bars

…is a bright green figure looming over me this morning – as I bike down to the mercato biologico at the ex-mattatoio – and my favorite extant ancient Roman monument, this colossal trash heap created from about 2 BC until 3 AD consisting of around 53 million terra cotta amphorae containers used to transport olive oil to Imperial Romans, now a seemingly geological occurrence in the landscape, a mound of wild brush in the middle of the Testaccio neighborhood of Rome.

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By Fritz Haeg on March 18, 2011 | Rome
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On March 17th, 2011, DINNER FROM THE PLANTS…

Roman rooftop potatoes

…of the Roman rooftop homestead tonight included baby potatoes with mint/rosemary/nettles pesto – harvested during a brief afternoon break in the rain – as a steady stream of red, green, and white flag carrying folks pass on the sidewalk below returning from Porta San Pancrazio (where Prime Minister Berlusconi and President Napolitano made appearances) next door and the overlook at Piazzale Garibaldi where there were festivities marking the 150th anniversary of a united Italy.

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By Fritz Haeg on March 17, 2011 | food, gardens
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On March 16th, 2011, MATING TOADS…

big toad and little friend having a moment

…sitting on a low wall by the sidewalk shocked me on my rainy hike back up the hill coming home from a lively interview with culinarily-passionate Luca Guadagnino (director of last year’s ‘I am Love’ with Tilda Swinton) for the upcoming Roma Mangia Roma book with Nero Publications.

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By Fritz Haeg on March 16, 2011 | animals
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On March 14th, 2011, ORETTA ZANINI DE VITA, ‘ROMA MANGIA ROMA’ INTERVIEW #3……

Oretta Zanini de Vita's collection of ancient food and pasta tools

…is the effusive indefatigable lively wise sage on cucina Italiana, the author of the definitive book on the history of food in Rome and the Lazio (previously mentioned here), and the recently released Encyclopedia of Pasta (plus about 30 other books…) which I just started reading this morning in preparation for the interview with her at her home this afternoon (for my upcoming Roma Mangia Roma that I am working on with Nero Publications) which was a total inspirational & revelatory delight – with her animated, articulate, enthusiastic, and at times defeatist ruminations on the past and present state of food in Italy – and now we are looking forward to continuing the conversation in the garden and kitchen of her house in the country, which is apparently where she really gets cooking.

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By Fritz Haeg on March 14, 2011 | food
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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 11th, 2011, TREVI…

I love it when architecture falls apart - here the facade of Palazzo Poli mutates into the baroque waterworks of the fountain formed in part with Travertine from quarries near Tivoli

…Fountain is what we attempted to see pre-tourist-mob this morning (first stop on today’s familial Roman highlights tour), at an early enough hour that we might have it to ourselves, which was almost the case by the time we finally made it there – and having just finished reading Grant Heiken, Renato Funiciello, and Donatella de Rita’s “The Seven Hills of Rome: A Geological Tour of the Eternal City” which begins with a fascinating account of the deep geological history that made this fountain possible (during the period of 1732-62 which now seems very recent), such as the sedimentary spring deposited Travertine from Tivoli, the metaphoric rock from Carrara, the pavers of lava stone from flows along the Appian Way, and the Vergine acqueduct delivered water from the Salone springs – this local tourist cliché seems all the more alive to me this morning.

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By Fritz Haeg on March 11, 2011 | architecture, Rome
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On March 10th, 2011, THE PANTHEON…

Pantheon coffers

…whose distant dome I have become used to seeing from my desk, was a first stop with family in town touring Rome’s greatest hits, what more to say?

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By Fritz Haeg on March 10, 2011 | architecture, Rome
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On March 9th, 2011, TREE SUNRISE…

Roman tree sunrise over Colli Albani (Alban Hills)

…with birds over the volcanic Colli Albani from the terrace windows at 6:56am.

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By Fritz Haeg on March 9, 2011 | Rome
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On March 8th, 2011, FUOCHI D’ARTIFICIO…

fuochi d'artificio

…(fireworks) light up Rome over Piazza del Popolo viewed from my window tonight, closing Carnevale.

A chiusura dell’edizione 2011 del Carnevale Romano, dalla terrazza del Pincio, un grande spettacolo di fuochi d’artificio a cura del Gruppo IX Invicta, ispirato alle sorprendenti scenografie pirotecniche dell’architetto Giovanni Paolo Panini.

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By Fritz Haeg on March 8, 2011 | Rome
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On March 7th, 0211, THE GREEN AURELIAN WALL…

the green Aurelian Wall behind Piazza Garibaldi on the Gianicolo

…(the vast circuit of Roman city walls hastily built from 271-275 AD) is bursting with all variety of weedy green plant life after months of cool rainy weather, and they are looking very perky basking in today’s bright warm sun.

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By Fritz Haeg on March 7, 2011 | architecture, Rome
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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 5th, 2011, ROMAN APARTMENT BALCONIES…

balconi Romani (these are sort of Czech cubist)

…(from the Italian ‘balcone‘) is the private domestic outdoor space available to most Romans, which they try to make the most of – usually full of plants and laundry (which I am also starting to consider for my Roman rooftop homestead as we head into Spring with more sun and warmth).

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By Fritz Haeg on March 5, 2011 | architecture, Rome
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On March 4th, 2011, UNDERGROUND ROMAN MOTO REPAIR…

underground Trastevere Moto

…just down the hill from me, which I pass everyday on my way through Trastevere, is cool, as is any underground activity, space, home, institution or business – literally or figuratively – and I have been fascinated by underground construction since I was little – writing my 6th grade term paper on underground and earth-sheltered homes after discovering the books of architect Malcolm Wells at my local library, and later I went on to get my own semi-underground house in L.A. where my vegetable garden is on the roof.

 

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By Fritz Haeg on March 4, 2011 | architecture, Rome
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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 27th, 2011, CITTÀ DELL’ALTRA ECONOMIA…

fresh pasta at the Bio Mercato housed in Testaccio's old slaughterhouse

…the center for activities promoting another economy (organic farming, fair trade, renewable energy, reuse and recycling, responsible tourism, ethical finance, open communication plus a ‘bio’ caffe’ and store) housed in Testaccio‘s ex-mattatoio (old slaughterhouse) is the place in Rome where I feel most at home these days and the Sunday market has become a highlight of the week, biking back with baskets full today just in time for the beginning of what should be five days of rain? (website)

 

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By Fritz Haeg on February 27, 2011 | food
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On February 26th, 2011, ‘ROMA MANGIA ROMA’ INTERVIEW #1 IN MONTEVERDE…

bright happy yellow 1930's fascist Roman housing block in Monteverde

…this afternoon with a young local resident living in cozy top floor quarters of a 1930′s fascist apartment block (previously cheap working class housing, now expensive sought after real estate my Italian friends envy) which he once shared with his grandmother – is the first in a series of 35 profiles we are doing with five generations of Roman residents to find out what and how they eat, and how they organize their days, lives, families, friends, and homes around food, for my upcoming Roma Mangia Roma book to be released this fall with Nero Publications. (and if in Rome, hold the evening of June 23rd in your calendar for a special related event to be announced soon)

 

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By Fritz Haeg on February 26, 2011 | Rome
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On February 25th, 2011, ‘CASTING JESUS’…

two of my favorite actors from 'Casting Jesus' by Christian Jankowski

…tonight’s live, recorded, and simultaneously projected three hour performance in Vatican City by Christian Jankowski at Ospedale di Santo Spirito in Saxia (the city’s oldest hospital, dating back to 727 and first reconstructed in 1204) had a Catholic American Idol Broadway Chorus Line Biblical soap opera vibe – with a series of svelt swarthy actors in their early thirties draped in flowing tunics slowly entering the long cathedral like hall of the old hospital and then following instructions to perform simple Jesus-like gestures, gentle raising of hands, serene smiles, distant gazes with stoic three quarter profiles, etc. by three discerning gentlemen (priests, producers, judges?) behind a table at the head of the hall. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on February 25, 2011 | art
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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 20th, 2011, PIAZZA DI SIENA…

a lone Sunday morning runner on Piazza di Siena

…where the equestrian events of the 1960 Roman Olympiad were held and where occasional equestrian events are still staged today within the public park and gardens of Villa Borghese – where I find myself this morning on my way to see a conversation / presentation /poetry reading on 86 year old Italian artist Carla Accardi at Museo Carlo Bilotti (upon the suggestion of Academy friend and neighbor Paola Pivi – Italian artist living in Anchorage who is spending her time in Rome connecting with previous generations of Italian artists) – and there is something about this space that has always felt charged to me, maybe it is the huge white ovoid vacancy inside the dense green park, perhaps it is the composition of over-the-top exaggerated Dr. Seuss-like cliché Roman stone pines that surround it, maybe it is the suggestion and sensation of those big animals moving in circles, maybe it is the vestige of mysterious mossy amphitheater seating that partially surrounds it – but I recall it making an impression on me during visits years ago, and now it feels like a warm homey familiar scene to me, where I am drawn to hang out when in the area.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 20, 2011 | Rome
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On February 18th, 2011, THE FOOD OF ROME AND LAZIO…

The Food of Rome and Lazio, 1995 by Oretta Zanini de Vita

…the 1994 book by Oretta Zanini de Vita full of fascinating accounts of Roman’s relationships to food through time featuring folklore and recipes (with chapters including Mills on the Tiber, Pastoral Kitchen, Papal Table, Carnival, Osterias, Poet G.G. Belli, Jewish Cooking, Sweets, Tourists & Movie Stars, Tuscia, Sabina, Castelli, Ciociaria, Pontine Marsh, Ex-Terra di Lavoro, Coastal Lazio) is a current inspiration and bible of reference for work on a few exciting upcoming projects I’ll talk more about soon…

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By Fritz Haeg on February 18, 2011 | books, food
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On February 10th, 2011, DUCK RAMP…

territorial duck guarding the Doria Panphili pond island

…is what I found in the pond at Villa Doria Pamphili this afternoon, installed by some thoughtful human, allowing the many duck residents to access the extensively wooded refuge of the island (sort of Animal Estatey) – but after spending some time duck-watching it seemed that one dominant territorial duck in particular was guarding the ramp, and the likely nesting female behind him, chasing away any ducks hoping to hang out on the island.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 10, 2011 | animals
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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 February 8th, 2011, LES BALLETS C DE LA B….

'Out of Context - for Pina' by Les Ballets A de la B

…the Gent based dance company featured at the Equilibrio Festival at Auditorium Parco della Musica tonight, performed ‘Primero – Erscht’ – staged on bright green astroturf with vintagey furniture and costumes and a frenetic madly child-like sometimes repetitious but usually bordering on senseless sequence of complex detailed movements that can really thrill and scare you, like the way you feel when you see evidence of the possibility for an alternate reality that is just like yours but unfamiliar, and a bit crazy, where people move and interact in slightly human but mostly exagerated ways – though what struck me most was all of the falling, really fantastic falls, especially the long exaggerated elastic falls of the shortest most acrobatic dancer who would go from entirely vertical on his feet, to laying on the ground horizontal, in the most elaborate of ways – at a certain point even having his chin on the ground with legs flipping back over his back, toes nearly touching his head from the sheer momentum of the movement forward as he hits the astro green ground.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 8, 2011 | dance
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On February 6th, 2011, LES SLOVAKS DANCE COLLECTIVE…

Martin Kilvady in Les SlovaKs Dance Collective's Journey Home

…comprised of the very charismatic Slovakian boys Milan Herich, Peter Jaško, Anton Lachký, Milan Tomášik and Martin Kilvády with highly individuated and endearing personalities (friends since childhood who shared the stage at the Vychodna folk festival when they were five – but now working together in Belgium) provided another amazing night of contemporary dance in Rome tonight, performing Journey Home whose “…structure comes from Slovak tradition in which a dance evening is like a puzzle of different dances from various regions of the country” which consisted of wild improvisations, tender couplings, traditional Slovakia steps mutated into something else, occasional yelping and whistling, traditional group song in harmony accompanied by violin, rhythmic stomping and clapping, leaps, fast fancy footwork, lifts, spins, unlikely combinations of postures and positions, rapid uncanny animalistic gestures, all while wearing super super super outfits that were both casual, stylish, butch, awkward, and very deconstructed Comme Des Garçons from the early 2000′s with expanded seams of different fabrics giving the everyday denims, linens, flannels, and corduroys some room to move – which they definitely needed – though my favorite moment came when Martin (pictured here) dramatically took off his jean jacket to bust out in a dynamic improvised thrashing solo to some classic rock.
(website)

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By Fritz Haeg on February 6, 2011 | dance
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On February 5th, 2011, COLLETTIVO 320 CHILI…

dancer in trunk from Ai Migranti by Collettivo 320chili

…the young Italian dance collective (or contemporary circus company, Compagnia di Circo Contemporaneo, as they also refer to themselves, whose name refers to the total weight of the company in kilos) we saw at the Auditorium Parco della Musica (the performing arts complex designed by Renzo Piano which opened north of central Rome in 2002 near Nervi’s Palazzo dello Sport and MAXXI ) as a part of the February dance festival ‘Equilibrio,‘ gave us such pleasure tonight with their amazing performance of Ai Migranti (direction and choreography by Piergiorgio Milano and creation and interpretation by Elena Burani‚ Florencia Demestri‚ Piergiorgio Milano‚ Fabio Nicolini‚ Roberto Sblattero‚ Francesco Sgrò) which included six performers attired in casual unassuming street clothes performing languid but precise movements, virtuosic but not showy steps, that seemed to become more energetic and out of control as the evening progressed – starting with trunks, being moved around the stage, bodies going in and out of them, over them, complex group napping arrangements on top of them, pivoting one-handed handstands over them, flips, a ball of bodies rolling over each other, and then to the rope acrobatics, synchronized group choreography, locomotion with kneeling jumps, food fights, fork fights, a very large knife (which I was really worried about), a pitch-black stage with occasional illicit movements only glimpsed by the illumination of the performers flashlights, some deranged spoken in loud Italian including lists of foods, and a finale with mounds of junk, stuff, detritus, precariously carried on stage, thrown around, (which somewhat reminded me – in a great way – of Anna Halprin‘s ‘Parades and Changes,’ one of my all time favorite pieces) torn apart, piled up, a man stripping down and putting on a cardboard box, and another wrapping some tape over a huge plastic hoop and spinning around on it in a way that I didn’t know was possible, and concluding with the pile of trunks and junk and people as a tall totem, plus the empty plastic hoop finally spinning down to the ground – and making me really excited about art, dance, Italy, and humans in general.

Le migrazioni sono spostamenti che gli animali compiono in modo regolare, periodico, lungo rotte ben precise, e che coprono distanze anche molto grandi. Le migrazioni sono un andare di persone a piedi e per mare, stracci addosso  e occhi spalancati, nervi tesi, cuore sospeso ad aspettare l’Oltre. Le migrazioni sono un andare avanti camminando indietro, guardando verso il passato per poi girarsi e accorgersi di aver fatto strada. Le migrazioni sono necessità istintuale di movimento interiore ed esteriore. – from 320Chili

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By Fritz Haeg on February 5, 2011 | dance
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On February 4th, 2011, UNIVERSITÀ DI ROMA ‘SAPIENZA’ – FACOLTÀ DI ARCHITETTURA…

Sapienza lecture poster

…is the Italian school of architecture – with a building just north of Piazza del Popolo (whose suggestive nature from certain points of view was recently pointed out by my friend John) which I biked down to this warm sunny morning via Passeggiata del Gianicolo (in just 20 minutes!) – where I gave a two and a half hour lecture on my recent thoughts and activities entitled “Cultivating the City and Welcoming the Wild” (you can see the slideshow here) in Italian – which was a special point of pride given my fixation on spoken language skills, attempting to enter into Italian life, culture and society as much as possible, removing linguistic conversational barriers as best as I can, since first living here 20 years ago, when I experienced a revelatory and surprising interest in language beyond the fixed system of grammar and vocabulary, rather the part that is alive (which I now see as presaging later similarly living and social interests such as gardens and wildlife, dance and movement, salons and educational environments), the spoken word, the living tongue, performative communication involving pronunciation, accent, dialect, gesture, slang, figure of speech and infinite subtlety that can not be understood in a strictly academic way – especially fun in a country where much of the communication comes not from what you say but how you say it.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 4, 2011 | lectures
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On February 3rd, 2011, CIMITERO DEGLI ACATTOLICI AL TESTACCIO…

low winter sun through the cypress of Il Cemitero Acatolico di Roma

…or “Cimitero degli Inglesi,” or ‘The Protestant Cemetery in Rome,” or the cemetery of artists and poets – such as Keats and Shelley – is a mysterious hidden place partially enclosed by the Aurelian Walls and in the shadow of the ancient Roman Piramide Cestia which I often pass on my bike, but on this warm sunny afternoon we find the hidden side entry and wander the green burial sanctuary (cemeteries being a frequent point of interest when seeking out visits to the major green spaces appearing on the maps of the cities I find myself in) dating back at least to 1748 when it appears in Nolli’s map of Rome – and is the final resting place for nearly 4000 non-Catholic citizens of mostly Britain, Germany, Greece, Russia, Scandinavia, China, and even some Italians – and having always imagined being sprinkled around some tree when the time comes (or like Andy Warhol – “When I die I don’t want to leave any leftovers. I’d like to disappear. People wouldn’t say he died today, they’d say he disappeared. But I do like the idea of people turning into dust or sand…”), today I am surprised to feel a little desire for a modest piece of stone here with my name on it (or better yet – nameless like Keats) where future visitors can come to pile scavenged oranges – as my friend did today on the grave of the Italian poet whose work she is translating – and then comforting to read that Goethe had similar feelings while on his ‘Italian Journeys‘ almost 225 years ago.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 3, 2011 | landscape
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On February 2nd, 2011, THE LETTUCE REPORT…

winter insalata in make-shift planters on the roof

…from the Roman rooftop garden is good – and though some are still looking small and scrappy after months in the ground, growing very slowly with the cool temperatures and little light available to them in the winter – others are looking more robust and ready to eat, and I am realizing that my extreme rooftop micro-climate does have some pluses in the winter which became apparent last month when a few nights of frost descended on the gardens out back, but not on the roof garden, probably the result of a high elevation garden avoiding the sinking cold air? plus the bit of warmth absorbed by the stone pavers during the day and released at night? neato.

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By Fritz Haeg on February 2, 2011 | gardens
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On January 30th, 2011, TWO BEARDED FRIENDS…

AA (beard left), Paolo (holding a mossy rock), and Angelo (beard right) on the rooftop garden terrace

…artist A.A. Bronson and Sicily-based fashion writer Angelo Flaccavento, plus beardless Roman artist Paolo W. Tamburella, came over for a cozy home-cooked meal of barley lentil vegetable minestrone this afternoon on the occasion of A.A.’s last minute visit from Paris for last night’s AltaRoma event organized by Angelo.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 30, 2011 | fashion
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On January 27th, 2011, THE SUN RISING OVER ROME…

the sun rising over Rome at 7:48am

…viewed from my East facing studio window is something I anticipate every morning during the approximate two and a half hours from the time I am rising at around  5:00 and the time that the lazy late Roman sun starts getting up – during which I might have completed coffee infusion by 5:20, news surfing 5:30, and then decent into email while waiting for some light to go out and play.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 27, 2011 | Rome
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On January 26th, 2011, ORTICHE…

ortiche showing up in the pot of a small bare peach tree which is a bit Charlie Brown Christmas, so every bit of green is welcome these days

…or nettles, are to be found all over the streets of Rome, coming up from any unattended space between stones, they sting (a fact I am sure every Roman child learns early on with a warning from a parent – since it is the first thing that all of my Italian friends say about them: ‘pizzica!’), are known as a sort of peasant food, can be brewed as tea, or cooked with pasta, making a cameo appearance in Pasolini’s ‘Teorema” when the maid refuses to eat anything else – and I am letting them have their way in my garden as they pop up here and there – a pretty green in a winter garden – since they are such a quintessentially Roman street food.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 26, 2011 | gardens
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On January 24th, 2011, WINDOW SILL MOSS GARDENS…

the view from my desk to the new mossy zen garden out my north facing window

…were the impromptu focus of the day as I discovered the great abundance of gorgeous moss  (the most exotic sort of vegetation to the eyes of an eleven year Angeleno), in all shades of green, growing all over everything during my daily exploratory walk to see what’s up in the back garden and upon returning to the studio with buckets full of the velvety green stuff (you just want to curl up in it), the north facing stone window sills were the first to get covered, but now I am eyeing everything to consider it’s moss-garden-worthiness – next up the north side of the terrace?

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By Fritz Haeg on January 24, 2011 | gardens
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On January 23rd, 2011, TWO BIG NAKED MEN WITH LONG FLOWING CAPES…

Castor and Pollux, twin sons of Zues, welcome you to the Piazza del Campidoglio

…greeted me as I was passing through Michelangelo‘s Piazza del Campidoglio this morning – Castor and Pollux, or Dioskouroi, twin cavalieri sons of Zues.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 23, 2011 | art, Rome
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On January 22nd, 2011, A BRIGHT FLUORESCENT ORANGE WORK UNIFORM…

uniform piece by Giulia Piscitelli from the Rischi Minori exhibition at Fondazione Giuliani

…is one of the best Italian street fashions around these days (since much of what we see the Romans wearing is so conservative, subtle, elegant, restrained, and even conformist – except when they are out jogging and exercising in one of the many treasured private-villa-estates-turned-public-parks, like Villa Doria Pamphilj or Villa Borghese, in which case they bust out with some extraordinary lycra looks) worn by all sorts of mostly-men utility and construction workers – which I am reminded of tonight at the opening of Giulia Piscitelli’s new show ‘Rischi Minori‘ at Testaccio’s newish Fondazione Giuliani where she presented a series of such uniforms which felt like a tribute to these everyday workers.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 22, 2011 | art, clothing
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On January 21st, 2011, THE FLOWERING FAVA BEANS…

the promising winter flowers of my happy fava bean plants

…or Vicia faba, are keeping my rooftop garden spring-like in the middle of a Roman winter – and since I have never grown them before, it is all new to me – like the fact that they are often used as a cover crop, excel at fixing nitrogen in the soil, grow to become 2-6 feet tall, do great in cold weather, have those pretty wing-petaled white with black-spot-centered flowers, and here in Italy are typically planted on 2 November, All Souls Day, and harvested in time to be eaten with Pecorino for a traditional May Day picnic.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 21, 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 19th, 2011, KNIFE SHARPENING ON VIA LEONINA…

a specialized knife sharpening moped with a spinning stone where the seat should be

…in Monti (my new favorite neighborhood of Rome – with the most personal little clothing stores in town – which I was seeking out today since it seems that I have been wearing a weeks worth of clothes for the past five months – including Super, where I purchased my first pair of corduroys in years – always had Catholic elementary school associations for me – and Paraphernalia, where I finally found a huge cozy wool cardigan sweater in which I will ride out the rest of winter) is what I witnessed today – where a man pulled up on an old tricked-out moped customized, with a spinning stone where the seat should be, to provide this particular service to bars and trattorie.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 19, 2011 | Rome
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On January 18th, 2011, A FOGGY SUNRISE…

stone pines across the street viewed through a morning fog and a series of baroque oval portals

…and plants hanging out of a pair of oval portals that I stumbled upon during an all-afternoon bike-ride were the highlights of a day that ended with a weird sort of existential-crisisy sort of foggy feeling about what I’m doing, where I’m headed, and what it’s all about…

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By Fritz Haeg on January 18, 2011 | Rome
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On January 17th, 2011, LANDING AT FIUMICINO…

view of Mar Tirreno landing at Fiumicino with Alitalia

…feels like coming home now (with Alitalia yesterday afternoon) – approaching from the north over fields and farms of Lazio is especially welcoming – making me want to play out my fantasies of a future urban/rural-commune/village-life next door to the airport?

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By Fritz Haeg on January 17, 2011 | travel
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On January 9th, 2011, CESARE PIETROIUSTI…

left: untitled (transient possession), 2008; right: Quello che trovo, quello che penso, 2010

…the Rome-based Italian artist (b. 1955) who is admired by all of my Italian artist friends, has an audio piece which I encountered today in a hallway gallery at MAXXI (making the most of the much appreciated Spring-like weather in Rome, I arrived by bicycle via the path along the Tiber River embankment – also drawn by the Pier Luigi Nervi show, the highlight of which was the display of personal letters from collaborators and friends such as Saarinen, Breuer and Tange) entitled Quello che trovo, quello che penso, in which he describes what he finds and thinks while isolated behind a service stair during the museum openings for the exhibition (May 27th & 28th, 2010), reflecting “…the position of the artist with respect to the institution” – yes – and during my first month in Rome he came over for a friendly lunch visit and gave me edition 9,021/10,000 of untitled (transient possession), 2008, a Union Beer spill on paper drawing that must be given to whoever asks for it when it is displayed – so keep that in mind the next time you visit me.

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By Fritz Haeg on January 9, 2011 | art
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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 29th, 2010, PIRAMIDE CESTIA…

Piramide Cestia, or The Pyramid of Cestius

…the ancient burial pyramid of Caius Cestius built circa 8-12BC originally located in the open countryside and later integrated into the expanded Roman fortifications of the Aurelian Walls ensuring is preservation through the ages – is what I was biking around today, taking advantage of the warm sun and blue sky, and what a cool, striking, minimal, monolithic sight – but the best part are all of the now-dormant steep-rocky-slope-loving caper plants making themselves at home in the cracks between the slabs of marble. (wikipedia)

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By Fritz Haeg on December 29, 2010 | architecture, Rome
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On December 28th, 2010, VILLA SCIARRA…

baroque fountain putti in the Villa Sciarra gardens

…is the hidden public park just around the corner which I have escaped to this morning – with sun shining and flu waning – named for the villa at it’s center, originally established in 1653 by Cardinal Antonio Barberini as a farm estate – which was then ultimately given to Benito Musolini with the proviso that it be made public, and what a pleasure to have so many opulent private estates now public in this very green city – plus I am such a sucker for the baroque, and here there are some cute putti statuary hanging around the fountains and peeking out from the shubbery. (wikipedia)

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By Fritz Haeg on December 28, 2010 | landscape, Rome
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On December 27th, 2010, COMING OUT OF THE FOG OF MY INFLUENZA ROMANA…

last bit of light on Rome

…after 5 days in bed and now the sun is going down.

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By Fritz Haeg on December 27, 2010 | Rome
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On December 22nd, 2010, IL FONTANONE…

Il Fontanone, or 'big fountain'

…is just below me, on Gianicolo hill, with a commanding view of the city, made with stone and marble taken from the ancient Forum of Nerva and granite columns from the original St. Peter’s Basilica, commissioned by Pope Paolo V Borghese (1605-1621), marking the terminus of the Roman aqueduct Acqua Traiana and still receiving it’s water directly from Lake Bracciano 20 miles north.

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By Fritz Haeg on December 22, 2010 | architecture
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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 19th, 2010, I WANT TO RIDE MY BICYCLE…

my shiny new bicycle

…which I just bought on Clivo Portuense the street with all of the bicycle/moped shops by Porta Portese – now that the rains have stopped – and already it has totally changed the way I experience the city, having always been on foot until now – very exciting: night-time rides around the colosseum, big circles around Piazza del Popolo, and long journeys up the Tiber along the super fast pathway on it’s banks (when it isn’t flooded by rains, or covered in mud after).

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By Fritz Haeg on December 19, 2010 | Rome
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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 17th, 2010, SNOW IN ROME…

rare Roman snow falling out my window

…is something that is only meant to fall once every twenty years – but they got over an inch last winter and we’re getting it today – magic! pretty! (global warming?)

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By Fritz Haeg on December 17, 2010 | Uncategorized
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On December 16th, 2010, A COLD ROMAN SUNRISE…

the first light out my studio window this morning

…looks deceptively warm, but no…brrr.

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By Fritz Haeg on December 16, 2010 | Rome
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On December 15th, 2010, MARINELLA SENATORE…

'Speak Easy' (2009), a concept by Marinella Senatore, produced by 1200 citizens of Madrid; based on an original idea by a community of 70 neighbors from Leganes, Madrid; written, directed, and edited by 74 students of the Fine Art University Complutense, Madrid

…engaged in a thoughtful dialog with curator and critic Laura Barreca at MAXXI this evening about the videos she shepards entire communities of hundreds of local collaborators – young to old – to make together from conception to production – and there were some dance numbers that I especially enjoyed. (artist website)

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By Fritz Haeg on December 15, 2010 | art
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On December 14th, 2010, SMOKE OVER ROMAN PROTESTS…

the view from my window of smoke billowing up from car fires set by protesters in Rome's historic center

…is what I am seeing out my window now, (while watching live video from Corriere della Sera of the dramatic scene on the streets below) as it was just announced that Silvio Berlusconi won the vote of confidence in the lower house, just three votes away from the collapse of his government, while 1,500 police are trying to control an estimated 100,000 now marching in the Roman center calling on Berlusconi to step down – and though it seems impossible to believe that this person is still in power, not knowing any Italian that can stand him, we did talk to a cab driver the other day who thought Silvio was just great – but when asked why he was good for Italy he just shrugged and starting rambling about taxes on taxis.

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By Fritz Haeg on December 14, 2010 | Rome
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On December 11th, 2010, ESPOSIZIONE UNIVERSALE ROMA…

Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana (1938-1943), or the "Colosseo Quadrato" - flanked by equestrian statues (Publio Morbiducci and Alberto de Felci) representing the Greek heros Dioscuri in Carrara marble - and features six arched bays across (Benito) and nine levels (Mussolini) in possible reference to the name of the fascist Italian leader who commissioned it

…or EUR, originally known as E42, the vast development south of Rome initiated by Benito Mussolini in 1935 designed by a collaborative of Italian architects is where we went today in search of some adventures in fascist Roman architecture – which first fascinated me (to the horror of my Italian classmates and teaching assistants) while working on my thesis project for Aldo Rossi at the IUAV from 1990-91 – and today I was struck by how much the buildings reminded me of Aldo Rossi‘s greatest & earliest works such as the Cataldo Cemetery in Modena (1971) and the more relentlessly austere designs of Giorgio Grassi – but today I was left feeling uncomfortable with our ability to have a purely aesthetic experience with architecture generated to promote brutal inhuman activity – but hey, we really love that Colosseum built by slaves where hundreds of thousands died torturous deaths to the cheering of an entertained public.

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By Fritz Haeg on December 11, 2010 | architecture
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On December 9th, 2010, TRAMONTO SUL TEVERE…

the dome of St. Peter's framed by the plane trees of the Tiber at sunset

…was viewed in haste on the pedestrian river crossing of Ponte Sisto – my favorite Tiber bridge & my tranquil expressway into the center – at 16:30 which seems to be such an early/northern time to say ‘addio’ to the sun until you realize that Rome is on the same latitude as Chicago….so I’m looking forward to longer days on the other side of the solstice.

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By Fritz Haeg on December 9, 2010 | Rome
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On December 8th, 2010, PLANTS GROWING ON ALL THE ROMAN ROOFTOPS…

a little impromptu wild garden on the roof of a market stall in Testaccio

…after six weeks of rain is worth looking up for – where you can see the story of Roman ruins begin before your very eyes, leaves falling, accumulating, decomposing, with dust settling, becoming fertile soil for any floating or bird-deposited seed to take root.

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By Fritz Haeg on December 8, 2010 | gardens
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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 December 6th, 2010, THE BISCOTTI BOOK…

A tea reception for the new Biscotti book by Mirella Misenti (left) and Mona Talbott (right)

…featuring recipes from the kitchen of The American Academy in Rome by Mona Talbott and Mirella Misenti just had a very civilized Academy event and tea reception to celebrate the release of the first in a series of books to come from The Rome Sustainable Food Project. (publisher’s webpage)

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By Fritz Haeg on December 6, 2010 | food
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On December 3rd, 2010, IL MACRO (MUSEO D’ ARTE CONTEMPORANEA DI ROMA)…

a view of the new MACRO lipstick red auditorium monolith

…tonight officially opened the stunning new wing designed by the charismatic/punk French architect Odile Decq (who I spent some time with last year while in residence in Oxfordshire for a conference at The Ditchley Foundation), however the inauguration unfortunately coincided with an underattended opening of a couple of new shows at the new MAXXI (Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo) designed by Zaha Hadid on the other side of town – but hey, the lady architects are finally taking their place, and Rome is rousing.

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By Fritz Haeg on December 3, 2010 | architectural, art
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On December 2nd, 2010, VISIT TO ORTO BOTANICO DI ROMA…

Orsini greenhouse full of cacti and succulents at Orto Botanico di Roma

…in Trastevere made me especially LA homesick when I entered their hothouse of succulents and cacti this morning. (wiki page)

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By Fritz Haeg on December 2, 2010 | gardens
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On December 1st, 2010, PIERO GOLIA AT NOMAS…

Piero Golia tattooed on someone's back?

…Foundation in conversation with Luca Lo Pinto from the amazing Roman cultural instigators at Nero Magazine and curated by Cecilia Canziani and Ilaria Gianni – and the last time I saw Piero was at my place in LA on a Mountain School of the Arts field trip – and I just heard that a week after that a taxi ran into his Hollywood House sending him to the hospital with some arm problems!

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By Fritz Haeg on December 1, 2010 | lectures
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On November 28th, 2010, A VISIT TO PARCO DEI MOSTRI WITH DANISH…

Danes getting swallowed by Parco dei Mostri monster

…friends who are fellows at the Accademia Danimarca di Roma (housed in Danish design splendor in a 1967 structure designed by Kay Fisker near Villa Borghese) made me feel like I was also taking a little trip to Denmark today as eight of us packed into a VW van, donated by the former Queen of Denmark, traveling to Bomarzo to see the 16th century park of follies commissioned by arts patron Pier Francesco Orsini (1528–1588) for his deceased wife, and then to the Etruscan hill town of Tuscania (which I was told was a village of hippies, but I didn’t see any) where I heard some scholarly tours in Danish, later translated into a little English, followed by a delicious meal at a trattoria whose local crowds of diners looked up with silence as we entered, and where I was served beans with a mysterious additon after having explained that I was vegan – but no worries she said, it’s pigskin – and ‘we washed and cleaned it first!’

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By Fritz Haeg on November 28, 2010 | gardens
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On November 27th, 2010, JOAN JONAS TALKS AT MAXXI…

the forbidding space around MAXXI on a chilly November afternoon

…which is the dramatic new Zaha Hadid designed ‘Museum of 21st Century Art’ (surrounded by an unfortunate expanse of endless shadeless tree-free unwelcoming concrete which seems to function mainly as a place from which to view the building) has done much to catalyze the contemporary art scene in Rome despite it’s hostility to most of the artistic activities it seeks to present.

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By Fritz Haeg on November 27, 2010 | art, Rome
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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 25th, 2010, FEDERICA SCHIAVO GALLERY SHOW BY BHAKTI BAXTER…

Untitled (Hurricane), 2010 by Bhakti Baxter

…a Miami friend, opened tonight starting with a talk/performance about ‘nothing’ in the apartment above the gallery where Roman flea market vases were casually displayed on the floor and later stumbled upon and broken one by one. (gallery webpage)

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By Fritz Haeg on November 25, 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 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 15th, 2010, ROME FROM ABOVE…

Centocelle, or 'one hundred cells' in Italian, sounds ominous, but looks cool from above

…is the view that I am enjoying as we prepare to land at the remote Roman airport of Ciampino this morning, especially a view of the suburb Centocelle which developed around the site of the first Italian airport – where Charles Lindbergh payed a visit, Wilbur Wright gave a flying demonstration in 1909, and Hitler met Mussolini in 1938. (Wikipedia)

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By Fritz Haeg on November 15, 2010 | Rome
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On November 10th, 2010, CORVIALE…

Corviale from above

…is a massive Corbusian housing block designed by a team of Italian architects and built in 1972 in the southwestern outskirts of Rome – and I have recently become fascinated by stories of how residents have been gradually customizing and occupying it in unexpected ways – but departing from Fiumicino today I actually flew right over and managed to get a shot – more reports to come as I visit in person in a few weeks. (wiki page)

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By Fritz Haeg on November 10, 2010 | Rome
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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 November 1st, 2010, ITALIAN TRAIN STATION GRAFFITTI…

colorful two level graffiti at Roma Ostiense

…and their welcome colors are something I am admiring on the rails from Chiusi to Roma Trastevere this rainy afternoon.

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By Fritz Haeg on November 1, 2010 | Rome
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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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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 25th, 2010, PRIAPUS BY BERNINI…

the copy of Pietro Bernini's Priapus at Villa Borghese, 1616

…presents a lovely bounty in basket and on head as you enter the back gardens as Villa Borghese, though the original now sits back in New York at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 25, 2010 | sculpture
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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 21st, 2010, FLOCKS OF ROMAN STARLINGS…

Roman starling flock movements from my window at sunset

…fill the skies out my window in fantastic shifting forms every evening as they make their way from the stone pines and plane trees on the top of the Gianicolo Hill down to the center. (see stories on Daily Mail, BBC, Physics World, and The Telegraph)

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By Fritz Haeg on October 21, 2010 | animals
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On October 20th, 2010, LARGO DEI LIBRARI…

Largo dei Librari

…which always gives me pleasure to pass on my way home – is the cutest piazza in Rome, a tiny space with a forced perspective that leads the eye up to the diminutive facade of S. Barbara e S. Tommaso d’Aquina dei Librai built on the location of the Ancient Roman Theater of Pompey.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 20, 2010 | architecture, 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 October 16th, 2010, ‘WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ITALIAN ARCHITECTURE?’…


a great quote by architect Vittorio Gregotti shown during a conference presentation at the Swiss Institute

….was the title of this weekend’s conference produced by the Depart Foundation at the Istituto Svizzero di Roma – which was of special interest to me since I studied architecture at the Istituto Universitario di Architettura di Venezia from 1990-91 under Aldo Rossi – whose name was frequently invoked as the last great figure of Italian architecture – but I will be sharing more in depth thoughts on this event and the current state of Italian culture and design for my first post on the Metropolis Magazine blog in the coming days. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on October 16, 2010 | architecture, Rome
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On October 15th, 2010, THE DEPART FOUNDATION…

…the innovative contemporary art foundation with an international bent recently founded in Rome by Pierpaolo Barzan (which just co-produced the show “Hungry for Death” at the American Academy in Rome last Spring) is more evidence that this city is waking up – and this weekend I am looking forward to attending their conference entitled “Whatever Happened to Italian Architecture?” hosted by the Swiss Institute. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on October 15, 2010 | art
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On October 14th, 2010, VILLA DORIA PAMPHILI…

sunset behind the fabulous Stone Pines (or Umbrella Pine, Pinus pinea) of Villa Doria Pamphili

…the nearby park and the largest in Rome is one of my favorite places in town -  just outside the Aurelian wall at Porta San Pancrazio – where today I had a sunset walk through a grid of Roman Stone Pines – also cultivated for their pine nuts which the Genovese like to use in their pesto. (Villa Doria Pamphili)

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By Fritz Haeg on October 14, 2010 | landscape
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On October 13th, 2010, DONATO BRAMANTE’S TEMPIETTO…

Bramante's Tempietto commissioned by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain for San Pietro in Montorio dates from 1502

…was the highlight of a quick visit a few steps down the hill to our Spanish neighbors at the Real Academia de Espana en Roma for a tour of the academy and San Pietro in Montorio which marks the supposed location of St. Peter’s crucifixion.

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By Fritz Haeg on October 13, 2010 | architecture, Rome
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On October 12th, 2010, THE TORRE ARGENTINA ROMAN CAT SANCTUARY…

two of the resident cats greeting tourists at Torre Argentina

…was a highlight of my walk today, where I greeted a few of the circa 250 cat residents of some of the oldest temples in Rome, now the site of an organized urban cat refuge where they are fed, cared for and protected in the inaccessible recesses of ruins dating from 300-400 BC and the site the assassination of Caesar in 44 BC. (website)

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By Fritz Haeg on October 12, 2010 | animals, Rome
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On October 10th, A WALK ALONG THE ROMAN AQUEDUCTS…

a walk along the Roman Aqueduct

…starting near the storied Cinacitta’ complex at Anagnina (the last stop of the Metro A Line) and ending near the Termini – was a day long urban hike across some of the more dramatic and unlikely landscapes of the city where ancient Roman ruins rub up against modern housing blocks – and the event was organized in part to advocate urban housing rights while memorializing the communities of displaced peoples who had lived within the ancient structures of the aqueducts. (follow the path here, and check out the event webpage)

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By Fritz Haeg on October 10, 2010 | Rome
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On October 9th, 2010, ADALBERTO LIBERA…

1932 Roman post office by Adalberto Libera on Via Marmorata in Testaccio

…is the Italian Fascist architect (1903 – 1963) who designed the Via Marmolata post office I passed on my evening walk through Testaccio (which is becoming my favorite part of town), and who was also responsible for the great Casa Malparte in Capri which I had the pleasure of visiting on an adventure in my early 20′s. (more info on Libera)

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By Fritz Haeg on October 9, 2010 | architecture, Rome
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On October 8th, 2010, VILLA BORGHESE LIGHT SHOW…

Villa Borghese light show

…is a mystical presence on the Roman skyline as seen from my window tonight. (Wikipedia page)

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By Fritz Haeg on October 8, 2010 | Rome
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On October 7th, 2010, JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE’S ‘ITALIAN JOURNEY’…

mysterious sunset fire by the tarmac at Rome Fiumicino

…an account of his hastily planned 1786-87 trip south to escape his humdrum daily obligations in Germany and luxuriate in the Italian culture he had been dreaming about – is what I had the pleasure of reading while making a much speedier trip south yesterday, flying from Schiphol to Fiumicino in about 2 hours, where we saw a mysterious bonfire by the tarmac after a sunset touchdown. (more info on “Italian Journey” on Wikipedia)

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By Fritz Haeg on October 7, 2010 | travel
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On September 26th, 2010, PIAZZA SANT’IGNAZIO…

Piazza Sant'Ignazio, looking up

…formed by a Baroque confection of buildings designed by Filippo Raguzzini from 1727-1728, is one of my favorite outdoor spaces in Rome – and my best experiences of it are always unplanned surprises, where I just happen upon it – which is what happened today. (check out this awesome 360 degree view – and more information in 1929′s “The Town Planning Review“)

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By Fritz Haeg on September 26, 2010 | architecture, 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 21st, 2010, OH, JUST ANOTHER SUNRISE OVER ROME…

sunrise over Rome featuring the silhouette of the neo-classical cornice American Academy

…as viewed from my studio window overlooking the city this morning – and I think it’s hard not to be fired up for the day with a spectacle like this greeting you.

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By Fritz Haeg on September 21, 2010 | 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 17th, 2010, THE VIEW OF VILLA MEDICI…

Villa Medici perched on the South face of the Pincio as seen out my window

…from my studio desk is remarkable – being the dominant structure on the landscape out my Northeast facing windows.

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By Fritz Haeg on September 17, 2010 | architecture, Rome
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On September 16th, 2010, THE FRENCH ACADEMY’S VILLA MEDICI…

early evening view from Villa Medici gardens towards Saint Peter's

…is one of my favorite places in the Rome – where I’m lucky to have some French friends of friends in residence who I can go visit – and today I was treated to a tour of the gardens by one of the French fellows, a landscape historian who took us to the 20m high artificial mound known as Mt. Parnassus, and them deep underground into the chambers beneath it – an academic interpretation of which was provided in great detail – in French – so I left with only a general sense of his insights, which was fine & a bit more mysterious. (links: Academie Francais, photo archive, and Wiki page)

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By Fritz Haeg on September 16, 2010 | gardens
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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 September 6th, 2010, ON MY WAY TO ROME…

view out my portal from ATL to Fiumicino

….through that horrible place known as ATL and can’t wait to get to the other side.

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By Fritz Haeg on September 6, 2010 | travel
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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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