TAKING CARE OF ROME
TAKING CARE OF ROME
String trimming column fragments at the Foro Romano
Ruins growing furry with grasses, wildflowers, and lichens at the Foro Romano.
Stone pines at Parco del Pineto; in the foreground, a newly planted stone pine replaces a dead tree.
Arborists pruning Pinus pinea at Villa Aurelia in Rome.
A forager carrying asparagus and herbs in Parco del Pineto.
An eroded woodland hilltop, shaped by mountain bikers, at Parco del Pineto.
Taking Care of Rome (TCOR) is a study of Roman aesthetics of care. An aesthetic of care, as we define it, is the way that maintenance is manifest visually in the landscape.
Consider Rome’s Orto Botanico, which has a policy of deadwood retention, leaving monoliths (standing deadwood) and fallen trees wherever safe and appropriate. Deadwood, like the fallen Platanus x hispanica (London plane tree) at right, provides critical habitat for birds, beetles, and countless other species of plants and animals that require dampness and decay. While this policy is ecologically motivated, the appearance of deadwood has somewhat radical aesthetic implications and shifts our understanding of who the landscape serves.
Conversely, a policy of deadwood removal, which is practiced in Rome’s villa gardens and is typical in the U.S., is an act of maintenance that prioritizes neatness and denies the role of decay in landscape processes.
Spartium junceum (Spanish Broom) encloses a path at Riserva Naturale dell'Insugherata
A giant, cloud-like Foeniculum vulgare (common fennel) grows at the base of Aqua Claudia
Diplotaxis tenuifolia (Perennial wall-rocket) blankets a hillside at Parco Della Caffarella
A colossal Platanus × hispanica (London plane tree) behind a bench at the Orto Botanico
TCOR is also a study of the value systems that shape Roman landscapes: what is worth nurturing or protecting? How much neglect is permissible, and where? When does a neglected landscape become a rewilded landscape and begin to accrue the benefits of spontaneous naturalization, like increased biodiversity and carbon sequestration?
TCOR seeks out moments of abundance that become possible when maintenance practices are eased or altered, like a giant, cloud-like mass of fennel at Parco degli Acquedotti…
…or a multi-hectare eruption of electric-yellow Diplotaxis tenuifolia (perennial wall-rocket) on a former agricultural field at Parco della Caffarella. Wall rocket thrives on disturbed sites like this one: an open expanse that was cultivated for agricultural purposes over centuries.
TCOR also documents the jarring juxtaposition of invaluable ancient monuments and high-emission, diesel-powered, two-stroke trimmers and leaf blowers.
While the landscape around ruins is subject to "mow, blow, and go" care, the artifacts themselves are safe from harsh maintenance practices. Spontaneous growth on ruins is not merely tolerated but integral to the presentation of modern archeological sites. This is not aesthetically motivated (per the Dipartimento Tutela Ambientale): it is simply an impossible task to manage growth city-wide. As a result, there is a rare level of urban biodiversity in the 50-hectare zone that stretches from the Roman Forum to the Baths of Caracalla.
TCOR reflects on the iconic Pinus pinea, or stone pine, a species in the midst of an arboreal epidemic due to an invasive pest, and asks: should the city continue to replace these trees when 50% of newly planted saplings are lost? Or is this the start of Rome being defined in a new way, by a new species? What do you do when cultural preservation involves the perpetuation of something living, and thus vulnerable?
"The way wind moves around the stone pine is unique amongst trees. Other trees move with the wind; they sway. The stone pine must be pruned to be aerodynamic so that wind moves around it, opening and closing.” Riccardo, Roman arborist.
"You must love these trees or you cannot do the work. It is heavy and difficult work." Erico, Roman arborist.
How do you know when you’re done? "Only with time, only with time. Twenty years and I’m still learning." Gabrielle, Roman arborist.
What do you think about when you are up in the trees? "We think about what [the trees] need and also about what we need because we must live together." Riccardo, Roman arborist
TCOR studies how shifts in park management have created low-maintenance parks that are brimming with life. Public landscapes such as Parco del Pineto, Villa Ada, and Riserva Naturale di Monte Mario are not orthodox about native / non-native binaries and are among the most biodiverse landscapes in Rome. These are atypical urban spaces—constantly changing shape, with moments of intense abundance and wild growth. They are also true public spaces that transfer agency to their users, from the foragers that collect and manage plant populations to mountain bikers that alter circulation.
At right, an octogenarian man uses his cane to turn over plants and forage for asparagus "per il mio risotto" in Pineto's lower valleys. Protections afforded to the landscape here enable wild herbs and vegetables to thrive.
In Parco del Pineto, a canyon-like landscape results from the intersection of Roman geology (sandy-soil that erodes easily), spontaneous programming (mountain biking) and a care regime of neglect (which allows the earth to be carved away without repair by the repetitive force of bicycle tires).