A Tour of the Academy

After a wonderful trip home over the holidays, Tom and I are now settling back into life at the Academy (well, except for the jet lag induced insomnia, but who wants to sleep between the hours of 2 AM and 6 AM anyway?).  It was hard to leave Minnesota since we had such a great time visiting with our families (and getting our fill of snow, NFL football, oatmeal, peanut butter, and tacos!), but it's also nice to get back to what now feels like our "normal" life.

Looking into the AAR courtyard (through the entryway)

Speaking of normal life, I've realized that I've posted a lot about our trips and about sight seeing around Rome, but haven't shared all that much about the Academy itself, where we actually spend the majority of our time.  So- especially since we haven't done much sight seeing since we've returned- I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to show you around our home for the year. (By the way, I took many of the pictures in this post earlier in the year, and also took a few shots from the Academy website, so if things look especially green for winter, it's probably because it actually wasn't winter at the time.)  

Really, I should have written this post back in September after the President of the American Academy in Rome (often abbreviated "AAR") gave a very interesting presentation on the history of the institution.  My memory is a bit foggy on some of the details at this point, but the basic history goes like this:  The Academy as we now know it actually began as an architecture school,  which prominent American architects opened in Rome in the 1890s.  The idea was that the school would provide an opportunity for up and coming American architects to study classical design in-person, and that they could then later incorporate their knowledge into their work back home.  However, shortly thereafter, in the 1910s, the architecture school merged with the American School of Classical studies, and so- to this day- the Academy serves as a work retreat (or is that an oxymoron?) for both artists and scholars who would benefit from spending time here in Rome.

The McKim Building (from the front gate entrance)

The Academy was located elsewhere in its early days, but in the early 1900s, it relocated to its present location, on a hill just west of the city center.  The legend is that, at that time, this area still felt rather remote to the city of Rome, and so the founders were a bit hesitant to build here.  However, after seeing that, due to the elevation the American Academy would "look down on" the French Academy, they determined that this was the right spot after all.  The Academy then constructed its main building, the McKim building, in the 1910s, and has obtained other nearby buildings for additional space in subsequent years.

Our Room (with our new Ikea bedspread!)

The McKim building is considered the "heart" of the Academy, and it is also the building in which Tom and I spent virtually all of our time.  Structurally speaking, the building is four-stories and consists of four corridors around a small central courtyard.  All of the fellows without children live in this building, and many visiting scholars and residents live here too (fellows and residents with children live in a separate nearby apartment building).  As an interesting side note, until sometime in the 1980s none of the rooms in this building had private bathrooms. Instead, fellows used common bathrooms down the hall (just like in college).  Lucky for us, though, we now have our very own (albeit tiny) bathroom to use any time we want!  In addition, like most of the other scholars, Tom has his own office space in the McKim building (which is nice, since it allows us to have a bit of space from one another at times).  Many of the artists have large studio spaces here, too, where they can really spread out and work on their projects.  On our floor (the 2nd floor), there's also a laundry room, a community kitchen (where we make breakfasts or weekend meals), and a shared living room space, with couches,  a TV, and even a treadmill!

Tom in his Office (with a book and coffee, per usual)

2nd Floor Community Kitchen

2nd Floor Shared Lounge Room

Dining Room (photo by Margaret Monteith)

However, the McKim building isn't just for living and work space- it's also the place where the whole community gathers together, both formally and informally.  Apparently, in the '70s and '80s the building became rather run down due to a lack of maintenance (and funding!), but as a result of lots of renovations over the past couple of decades, it's now a very beautiful place to live, work, and socialize.  The main floor houses some administrative offices, the mail room, a "salone" (where people often chat before dinner or where informal piano recitals or poetry readings often take place), a billiard room (which probably has a more formal name of some sort), the dining hall (where we eat our weekday lunches and dinners in winter- in the warmer months we eat outdoors), and the bar (where you can grab a muffin, a cappuccino, or a glass of wine, depending on the time of day).

The Academy Bar with our bartender, Gabriel (photo by David Bordow)

The Cryptoporticus

The "basement" level of the McKim building contains a large lecture room, where fellows and other visitors often give presentations, and also the cryptoporticus (basically a covered arched walkway), where people gather to chat before and after these occasions.  However, I think Tom's favorite part of the lower level, (or perhaps the whole building) is the removable floor tile in the cryptoporticus, which provides access to a (now dry) ancient aqueduct.  Some people have gone down there to explore, but looking down from a safe distance has been good enough for me (given my klutzy nature, I'm pretty sure I'd sprain and ankle on my way down).

4th Floor Balcony

On the other hand, my favorite parts of the building are those that give me access to the great outdoors- the fourth floor balcony and the Bass Garden.  The balcony on the fourth floor provides great views of the neighborhood and is a great spot to have a cup of tea or do some Italian homework on sunny afternoons (although, lately, the cold rainy weather has prevented me from spending any time up there!).  The Bass Garden is essentially the backyard of the McKim building.  The large grassy space has plenty of nice big shade trees and lots of benches and chairs to rest on.  In various areas there are also fruit trees, herbs, and vegetables, which the kitchen uses as part of the Rome Sustainable Food Project.  There's also a bocce ball court and grill, which we really need to make better use of once we get some spring weather!  Finally, towards the back of the Garden is a small building, the "Casa Rustica," where a few of the fellows have their work space.  The Casa Rustica was actually a tavern back in the 1800s (or so) and apparently also sits on the site where Galileo first tested his telescope (or so legend holds)!  (There is also a rumored ghost in the building, although I really have no credible information to share on that point at this time).  

The Bass Garden

Casa Rustica

Dining Room in Villa Aurelia

The only other Academy building we've really spent any time is is the Villa Aurelia.  As the name suggests, the Villa Aurelia is a large, fancy mansion, which was left to the Academy after the owner's death in the early 1900s.  This building has a much more interesting history than the McKim building:  It was built in the 1650s for Cardinal Girolamo Farnese, and then was used by Garibaldi in 1849 as the headquarters for the Roman Republic's defense against the French Army.  As a result, the building was badly damaged, but was ultimately restored by the aforementioned American heiress (who then left the building to the Academy).

We have only been to the Villa Aurelia on a couple of occasions, as it's really only used for especially fancy events/receptions to which extended members of the community (trustees, special guests, etc.) might be invited.  Well-off couples can also rent the space from the Academy for special events, like weddings or other large receptions.  (In fact, Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes used the space for their rehearsal dinner!)  It's truly a breathtaking space, and, although I've only seen glimpses of some of the rooms, I imagine it's the type of building where royalty would feel right at home.  Although we don't get to officially visit often, it is possible to view the Villa Aurelia gardens by special request, and when my friend Kahla was in town, we even got to head up to the rooftop balcony, where we were treated to sweeping views of the city!

Villa Aurelia

Villa Aurelia Gardens

View from Villa Aurelia's Rooftop Deck

At the end of the day, it's true (even if a bit cliched) that what really makes the Academy such a special place is the people who live and work here.  Often visitors will come through who were fellows thirty or forty years ago, and they all speak so highly of their time here, despite the fact that they remember the building as being extremely cold, uncomfortable, decorated with broken furniture, and in a general state of total disrepair.  I like to think that we'd feel the same way even if we were in that same situation, but, frankly, it's really nice to live in a space that's pretty and warm and clean, too.  It makes us feel like we're not just visitors, and that this is actually our home.

Alla Prossima,
Erin

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Sat. Jan. 12:  More typical winter weather.  The days start out cool (lower 40s), but afternoon highs are usually in the mid-50s with a mix of rain/sun/clouds.  In any case, it's much better than the 5 degree weather we had most of the time in Minnesota!!!