New advancing of the research on the architecture with concave and convex rhythms at Hadrian’s Villa: reconstruction hypothesis on the southern nymphaeum of the Piazza d’Oro

Benedetta ADEMBRI¹ / Sergio DI TONDO² / Filippo FANTINI³
(¹Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici del Lazio, Italy / ²University of Florence, Italy / ³Instituto de Restauración del Patrimonio, Escuela Técnica Superior de Arquitectura de Valencia. Universitat Politécnica de València, Spain)

Abstract: Thanks to the gratifying result achieved in the past years (Adembri, Di Tondo, Fantini “Architecture with concave and convex rhythms and its decoration in Hadrian age: the south pavilion of Piazza d’Oro in Hadrian’s Villa” Vienna 2010), we decided to further develop our investigation line on concave and convex friezes of the Piazza d’Oro in a more challenging way: the development of a wide virtual reconstruction of the southern part of this well known pavilion of the Hadrian’s Villa. The wider scope of this research needed the revision of the methodology used until now by splitting the general objective in smaller problems that could be solved with a certain degree of independence one in respect of the others. By a side we propose a progressive improvement of the data treatment carried out in the past years with the aim to achieve better and more manageable 3D models of the friezes, by the other side we present the increased database of figured frizes and other architectural decorations belonging to the southern nymphaeum of the Piazza d’Oro. We do decided to focus our attention on this issue for various reasons: the presence of former studies on the same theme, developed by means of traditional surveying technologies, that nowadays seem to be outdated for a lack of accuracy of the measures (Hansen 1960, Rakob 1967, Conti 1970) and the presence inside the Villa of a variety of fragments (not only friezes) related to this nymphaeum. Moreover we present the development of a methodology based on the integration of two different surveys: one obtained by means of architectural laser scanner equipment and a more detailed one aimed at architectural decoration (column’s basis and shaft, friezes, mouldings, etc.) also integrated by Image Based Modelling Techniques. Due to the complexity of the project a new partner has been involved in the general research on Piazza d’Oro (Prof. Francisco Juan Vidal and the architect Isabel Martinez-Espejo Zaragoza Ph.D. student of the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia) as explained before the main outcome (the complete virtual reconstruction), will be the product of a sum of integrated research.

Keywords: