Roman Cartography at the Pantheon Institute

As many past Penn State students know, while studying abroad in Rome all architecture and landscape architecture student are required to take Arch 499C. While the course material in itself is interesting, what really makes the course worthwhile is the professor who teaches it.

Allan Ceen has been teaching students about Roman Cartography for a long time. The course focuses on learning from various maps of Rome in order to understand the development of the city over its history. The city has drastically changed over time yet it still has managed to keep a unique identity unlike any other city I have been too this semester.

The other important part of the course requires all students to participate in ten walks through the city of Rome. Each and every Thursday was another exciting adventure through the city, as Allan Ceen would take us on yet another historical path through the city. The walks include Ancient Roman, Medieval, Renaissance, and even pre-Roman paths. Allan Ceen used these walks to illustrate the importance of how the city has change, but also stress the importance of being able to read buildings and understand the city as whole.

Many of the buildings in Rome, especially churches and government buildings, have writing directly on them which tell you what the building is, and when the building was built. However, in some cases it isn’t always that easy. Dating a building can be done through analyzing the building architecturally. Looking at the overall style, looking at the windows, or specially looking at the ornament are other ways to understand more about a building. Allan Ceen taught us the significance of the Papal Coat of Arms and how the symbols within it and often applied to the architecture constructed under the reign of a particular Pope. These techniques have been extremely useful in gaining a deeper understanding the components that make up the city of Rome. As developing architects, it is very important to understand the context in which one is designing. Therefore, it is necessary to understand how one can use what already exists within the city before deciding to demolish or introduce something new. This course has definitely equipped us with the skills to truly analyze, understand and appreciate a city. Specifically, I think all of us have become eternally fond of Rome and greatly appreciate all of Allan Ceen’s effort to allow us to learn from the Eternal City.