‘Vitruvio Italia’ is born, a Facebook community for the father of architecture

Becoming “friends” and delving into the thought of the father of architecture together: this is the proposal of “Vitruvio Italia – From the Basilica of Fano to two thousand years of civilisation”, a new Italian Facebook community entirely dedicated to Marcus Vitruvius Pollioto his treatise “De Architectura”, to the Basilica of Fano and the influence that the great architect of Ancient Rome had on Western culture.

The initiative, open to archaeologists and architects, historians and professionals, students and simple enthusiasts, was born a few months after the discovery in Fano of the remains of the Basilica described by Vitruvius in De Architectura, the only building that the Roman author explicitly declared to have designed and built. A discovery that not only restores to the history of architecture a monument sought for centuries, but opens new perspectives for the knowledge of Vitruvius himself.

Who promotes the community

To promote the community is Paolo CliniFull Professor of the Polytechnic University of Marche and Director of Maindh_Lab – Mindful Artificial Intelligence for Innovation and Digital Heritage, engaged for over thirty years in the study of the Basilica of Fano and in the research path that contributed to its localization and rediscovery.

“The Basilica does not represent a point of arrival for me, but the beginning of a new season of studies”, says Clini. “For the first time we can go back to reading Vitruvius’ words by comparing them with the material reality of his architecture. And we can do it by using, alongside historical sources and archaeology, new tools such as digital modelling, simulation and Artificial Intelligence. From here comes the idea of ​​an open community, in which knowledge is not only communicated, but built and discussed together”.

The characteristics of Vitruvio Italia

In fact, “Vitruvio Italia” wants to go beyond just the Basilica of Fano. The group will address De Architectura, Roman architecture and engineering, construction techniques, machines, water, the city and proportions, but also the extraordinary fortune of Vitruvius through the centuries: from the Renaissance to Alberti, Leonardo, Raphael and Palladio, up to modern and contemporary architectural culture. A space will also be dedicated to the contribution of digital technologies and Artificial Intelligence to the research, reconstruction and valorization of cultural heritage.

How to join the group

Participants will be able to publish articles, sources, books, images, reconstructions, news, events and research hypotheses, respecting the rigor of the sources and free scientific comparison.

The community manifesto is summarized in one sentence: “After the discovery of the Basilica, Vitruvius must be read again. With the sources of the past and the tools of the future”. The group can be reached on Facebook here.