Promotion of the Work of the Roman Architect Marcus Vitruvius Pollio and of the Classical Architecture through the Publication of the Second Volume of the Series Published by Centro Studi Vitruviani “Vitruvio e l’archeologia”

Project location: Italy
Project start date: July 2013 - Project end date: July 2014
Project number: 2013-067
Beneficiary: Centro Studi Vitruviani

The Association "Centro Studi Vitruviani" was founded on 30 September 2010 on the initiative of the Province of Pesaro and Urbino, of Fano, of the University of Urbino "Carlo Bo", of Polytechnic University of Marche, of Archeoclub, of the Foundation Cassa di Risparmio of Fano and Confesercenti of Fano.
The Study Center has like primary objective the research and the documentation on the work of the great treatiser and roman architect; therefore the soul of the study center is the founding text of "De Architectura" the only manual of ancient architecture come down to us which allowed us thorough knowledge of Greek and Roman architecture. It also the main text of reference for the birth and evolution of the beautiful sixteenth century architecture.
The center promotes publications, conferences, study days, exhibitions for increasingly deepen more the work in the field of classical architecture and its relations and influence with renaissance culture modern and contemporary. The association also aims to promote and increase knowledge and appreciation of the rich historical and archaeological heritage that characterizes our local reality.
To date, the activities organized by the center are numerous and of great thickness: the Symposiums of Vitruvian Studies: "Vitruvius's De Architectura in classical culture", "Vitruvius, architecture and design between the old and the sixteenth century"; III Symposium of Vitruvian Studies; The Paulo Taus Prize for Best Dissertation on Vitruvius and his relations and influences with culture and ancient architecture; series of lectures "Reading Vitruvius", "In the past with Vitruvius" ; exhibition "The image of the archaeological Landscape of the via Flaminia"; workshop of photogrammetry / lidar "The via Flaminia and the complex of tunnels of Furlo" ; the first volume of the series of the Centro Studi Vitruviani published by Marsilio Editors entitled "Vitruvius and the architectural drawing"; series of lectures "Fano and Vitruvius: meetings with the classical "; conference" L'Aquila, the endless earthquake".

The Nando Peretti Foundation has awarded a grant for this project. The publication of this book will encourage the dissemination of knowledge and the results compiled based on the classical scientific understood not as a historical epoch ended, but as a guiding principle of a millennial evolution of Western culture.

The second volume of the series of the Centro Studi Vitruviani will include 12 essays including some contributions exhibited at the Third Symposium of Vitruvian Studies held in Fano in November 2012. The essays in foreign languages will be translated into Italian. Each author will have 12 pages (3000 words) including text, notes, bibliography and captions, plus 4 pages of images (from 4 to 8 images each) for a total of 16 pages. The pages of text will be 144, those of images will be 48 and those of service will be 46 for a total of 238 pages. The graphic design will be performed by the publisher Marsilio in collaboration with Dr. Daniela Amadei, a PhD student at the Polytechnic University of Marche and collaborator of the Centro Studi Vitruviani. The book will be printed in 400 copies and will be distributed beginning in February 2014 (into the publishing catalog 2014). The volume will be distributed throughout Italy and will be presented in some Italian cities.

The presentation of new and original data-matching information and precepts of Vitruvius could allow a significant step forward in the complex and vexed question of the relationship between the framework of De Architectura perceptive and Roman engineering practice. Such data might allow to give the work a more Vitruvian timely and significant support to the inspection and archaeological study of Roman architecture.