Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.32728/h2020.05
Ancient monuments as the origin of urban transformation of Pula between the two world wars
Emil Jurcan
Abstract
The article addresses the relationship the modernist process of urban development had with the monument heritage from the Antiquity between the two world wars taking as the example the city of Pula. At that time, Pula was part of the Kingdom of Italy, whose policy was primarily marked by fascism. Considering the specific ideological value that the narrative of the ancient Rome had for the fascist movement, the article intends to locate key moments when this narrative had made the connection to the concrete monuments such as the Arch of the Sergii, the Temple of Augustus and the amphitheatre (Arena) with the urban transformation of the city that was happening then. Using the methods of art historical analysis, the author describes the interventions on these monuments in the context of the wider social, political and cultural climate, as well as the theoretical frameworks that guided the interventions themselves. The article is structured in five chapters, the first three of which observe the interventions on important Roman monuments in the city, while the fourth deals with the theoretical framework that influenced the interventions themselves, primarily through the notions of Italian architect Gustavo Giovannoni. The last chapter offers a synthesis of this eclectic process of modernization of the city through a description of the urban planning of Luigi Lenzi, which summarized the previous partial implementation in the urban fabric. The article further results in more detailed explanations of the relationships that existed between different disciplines, such as architecture, archaeology, conservation and urbanism, without whose cooperation such process could not have been implemented. The main goal of the process designed in this way was to create an architectural scenography for the political parades, events and marches of the modernist mass society. The film camera, that new eye, conditioned the scenography itself on a formal level – it had to be dichromatic, give rhythm to the sequences, steer the eye of the observer. The new architecture, using antiquity as its foundation, gave the camera the desired scenography.
Keywords
Pula; Roman monuments; preservation; urbanism; fascism; Gustavo Giovannoni; the Arch of the Sergii; The Temple of Augustus; the Arena
Hrčak ID:
269646
URI
Publication date:
30.12.2020.
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