Other Rome: The Building of the Modern Metropolis, 1870–1960 maps the Rome that tourists rarely see — the vast modern city that grew beyond the Aurelian Walls after 1871, shaped by vernacular tradition, civil ambition, and mass migration.
About This Book
When Rome became Italy's capital in 1871, the city underwent a transformation that permanently altered its physical and social fabric. A rapidly expanding population — civil servants, rural migrants, and a new bureaucratic class — demanded housing, schools, and public buildings at a scale the historic centre could not absorb. Jean-François Lejeune traces this largely overlooked chapter in Roman urbanism, examining the modern neighbourhoods and housing estates that constitute what he terms the "Splendid Ordinary": architecture neither monumental nor negligible, but quietly consequential. This is essential reading for anyone serious about the history of the modern European city and the politics of urban form.
Key Features
- 320 pages of architectural history, urban analysis, and documentary photography tracing Rome's modern development
- Written by Jean-François Lejeune
- Published by Birkhäuser, ISBN 9783035625363
What You'll Discover
- How Rome's expansion beyond the Aurelian Walls after 1871 created entirely new urban typologies drawing on both vernacular and ancient Roman traditions
- The architectural character of Rome's modern quarters — housing estates, schools, and civic buildings — and how they relate to the city's ancient palimpsest
- The concept of the "Splendid Ordinary" as a framework for reassessing modernist and transitional architecture outside the canonical historic centre
- The social and political forces — mass migration, capital city status, civil administration — that drove Rome's unprecedented 19th- and 20th-century urban growth
About the Author
Jean-François Lejeune is the author of this study of Rome's modern urban development. [Details available upon request]
Specifications
- Format: Hardcover
- Pages: 320
- Dimensions: 227 x 286 mm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9783035625363
- Publisher: Birkhäuser
- Publication Date: [Details available upon request]
Perfect For: Architectural historians, urbanists, and designers interested in European city-building, Roman urbanism, and the architecture of modernity beyond the canonical monument.