Rome, 17-18th April 2019
The American Academy in Rome (AAR), in collaboration with Enel Foundation, organize a Symposium examining the intersection of Water management, climate change, and landscape design.
In the Era of Climate Change, water can represent not only a valuable resource but also an important risk to safety and security as in the case of floods and extreme downpours, stagnant water, sea level rise or scarcity of desalinated water for agriculture or human consumption, tremenousdly affecting the economy as well.
The symposium, themed “Water and Culture: a view from Rome”, will examine how the control of water has shaped culture in Rome and central Italy from the Roman Empire to the 20th century and address current and future opportunities in water management, especially in the United States and Italy, brainstorming on innovative ways of confronting them.
Ahead of the Symposium, a Keynote lecture on Water Landscape and Architecture delivered by Marion Weiss and Michael Manfredi, leaders of the famous Weiss/Manfredi studio, will be hosted on April 17th at the iconic location of AAR at Villa Aurelia.
Carlo Papa, Enel Foundation Director, will be speaking at the inaugural panel of the main Symposium - held on April 18th - leading up to a presentation of six papers providing an historical overview on how the control of water has influenced culture and power to progress. On the sidelines of the symposium Carlo Pignoloni, Head of Italy for Enel EGP commented , “the effects of climate change are already well known to everyone. The sustainable management of the natural resources is crucial for the future of the planet”
A roundtable taking place in the afternoon will feature an interesting discussion on the water energy nexus involving representatives from academia and industry. In particular, from an industry point of view, the theme of landscape design and its integration with hydroelectric productivity will be a key theme.
The event on April 18th can be followed in live streaming here
Ongoing cooperation in Architecture, Urban Design and Landscape Architecture
Enel Foundation and the American Academy in Rome recently revealed the winner of a dedicated Fellowship within the 2019/20 edition of the Rome Prize and Italian Fellowships. The initiative aims to support innovative and cross-disciplinary work in the arts and humanities and awards every year thirty artists and scholars who represent the highest standard of excellence and who are in the early or middle stages of their careers.
Giovanna Silva has been selected as Enel Foundation Italian Fellow in Architecture, Urban Design and Landscape Architecture, with the project ‘A Roman Journey’. Giovanna is the fourth Enel Foundation Italian Fellow after Annalisa Metta (2016/17), Fosco Lucarelli (2017/18) and Ila Bêka (2018/19).
This year’s winners were presented on April 9th, 2019, during the Arthur and Janet C. Ross Rome Prize Ceremony in the Great Hall at Cooper Union in New York.
The designated winners are thirty Americans and six Italians, amongst artists and students, each one of them will receive a stipend, workspace, a room and board for a period of five to eleven months at the Academy’s eleven-acre campus in Rome.