Seven Provocations for Testaccio

Executed in the summer of 2016 when we were Affiliated Fellows at the American Academy in Rome, Seven Provocations examines Testaccio, the city’s 20th Rione. We were interested in the neighborhood’s long history as a marginal district as well as its recent incarnation as an emergent district of hip restaurants and cultural institutions. Such juxtapositions create opportunities that are both invigorating and troubling. Spurred by Jorge Otero-Pailos’ call, “to explore new relationships to time and space without increasing prejudiced disciplinary divisions” we were also motivated to use the project as a vehicle for challenging ourselves to define ways of working that bridge architecture, art, and preservation.