Notes on the Ara Pacis

At the Ara Pacis Augustae in Rome the architecture of the museum intersects interestingly with another system, derived from issues of egress and life-safety. Two logics, based on different values, are layered one upon the other. First, the Roman Superintendent of Culture and History, in conjunction with the design team, has set up a framework for the idolization of an artifact, with particular political and philosophical objectives. The Ara Pacis represents the return of Augustus from "pacifying" his enemies, successfully spreading peace, order and infrastructure throughout the empire. The contemporary fetishization of this moment in history comes from a desire to remember Rome's one-time value and, in turn, anticipate the return of this value. The construction of this new museum is a direct act of myth-making. This agenda is clearly mapped out in the ichnography of the building. The fear of fire, or at least the institutionalized residue of a fear of fire, presumably truly felt by someone at some time but we don't know who, introduces a second logic with a second ichnography. This system is laid out over the first system, using the architecture as its starting point. In this interplay between the two logics, two hands are obviously at play with two different agendas.



The Ara Pacis has the potential to be a stimulating, profound experience - a meeting of contemporary individuals with the greatness of the past - an opportunity to contemplate a stimulating, inspiring story of victory over chaos and turbulence by order and peace. If the Ara Pacis is about the victory of the Pax Augustae over the chaos and turbulence of the hordes, the fire extinguishers represent this victory again as the victory of order and safety over danger (likewise with the small army of security guards). The pattern of extinguishers represent a new order, the protection of the museum-goers from another sort of chaos: fire, entropy, the degradation of energy. Unfortunately, this victory is not only over fire, but also the aesthetic experience. In this situation it seems that our fear of disorder (represented by the rather absurd possibility of fire) is so strong that it seriously undermines the aesthetic and, dare I say it, the "poetic" possibilities of the space. Which is, I think, very interesting.