Mistaken Identity
DIAGRAM richard taransky ra
Mistaken Identity
Titus’ ascension
Proposal:
A Reconstruction
The Arch of Titus, the monumental entrance to the Roman Forum at the highest point on the Via Sacra was erected to celebrate the triumph of the Emperor over Judea, in 70 A.D. The inscription on the attic dates its construction as belonging to the time of Domitian (8996 A.D.) after the death of Titus claiming his deification.The reliefs on the inside of the arch represent soldiers bearing the spoils,The Menorah and the Table for the bread, both from the ancient Tabernacle.The other side depicts the chariot of the Emperor, with the legionaires crowded around it while Goddesses play their part in the unfolding drama of material power.
A point of re-entry. A threshold for returning soldiers.Warriors pouring in from vanquished
Existing 19th C. Reconstruction
lands into a valley drained. At this point they are allowed to weigh the price they have paid before they descend again into civic life.They are ritually cleansed by their passage into the public space, and protected from the memories of the vanquished left behind. Killer on one side becoming only Father, Son, Friend, Lover, on the other. Plundered loot. The rope that freed Daedalus from the labyrinth is that point of knowledge that I believe can be seen from this place in the passage home.You could say that this passage (descending) is an act of immersion, a baptism. Washing, as you would the skin of a child.The speaker at the rostrum will draw you to the hollow of the hill lined with buildings that address other maladies.Then you will go home.
In America we are unaware of the missing tectonic component. How we judge guilt or innocence in the realm of the public life is no longer a material matter. As consumerism replaces the value and weight of mnemonic space in our spreading developments we need a counter argument of the temporal (fragmentary) against the material. The civic space of the rural longs for markers to reveal and reflect our images (hold up a mirror) as we sit in traffic on passage to our new homes.
1st Century ReconstructionSketchbook
Existing 19th C. Reconstruction
16th Century View West
Site Plan
Sketchbook
Notes on The Reconstruction of the Arch of Titus The existing 19th Century reconstruction is dismantled. The original pieces of the arch will be placed in a brick vessel holding them tipped on their side. The arch now forms the wall of an assembly space beneath the Via Sacra. The arch now blocks passage to the forum above. The marble relief depicting the spoils from the sack of Jerusalem will be broken. The fragments containing the Menorah and those of the Bread Table will be built into twin structures. The structure containing the Menorah is the Temple of the Heavens. The structure containing the Bread Table is the Temple of the Earth. The twin structures are sited in the existing memorial’s footprint. The marble relief of Titus is placed at the entry to the assembly beneath the Via Sacra. An image of Il Duce and his Jewish girlfriend Clara Petacci will be placed mirrored to Titus’ image A moveable wall shields each image from the innocents. The reconstructed arch is renamed “Arco dei Fratelli Caduti”.
An adaption/replication of these structures/elements is sited at the edge of wilderness along a development path from a city.
Portal marking Assembly below
Temple of the Heavens
Temple of the Earth
Water spaces
Study: The Temple of the Earth
Study: Temple of the Heavens
After Titian
After Titian
Plan Fragment - Temple of the Heavens
Bread Table Relic enclosure in Temple of The Earth
Sketchbook: lamps
Sketchbook: Nymphaum
Lectern in the Assembly
10
8
7
2
6
12
1 9
9
4
Under Ground 3
5
1.
Assembly
2.
Lectern
3.
Titus and Roma
4.
IL Duce and Clara
5.
Cabinet containing plan of Jerusalem
6.
Golem
7.
Gaea
8.
Basin
9.
Moveable wall
10. Existing archway above 11. Ramp 11
12. Inscription from above portal
Sketch: Gaea
Golem
9 1
2 6 3
4
5
8
7
Ground
Level
1. Temple of the Heavens 2. Temple of the Earth 3. Hearth and altar 4. Victory fragment 5. Cistern
6
6. Ramp down 7. Menorah fragment 8. Bread Table fragment 9. Arch
After Titian
The Temple of the Heavens
Sketchbook
Model over Nolli Map fragment containing processional from S. John Lateran to the Forum
Study: Temple of The Earth
Section: The Temple of The Earth
Sketch, Golem