It occurs to me that Italy isn’t the best place to live if you’re an architect. Take a walk at random through Rome or Florence or Venice, and it is quite possible that you won’t pass a single building made in the last century, let alone the last decade. Certainly, no one needs a Cheesegrater grating bolts all over the place when there are so many historic monuments to preserve. But while Italy’s old buildings are nectar to tourists, they can prove a headache for those trying to adapt their cities to modern life.
No surprise, then, that some Italians have come out in support last week of a proposal to restore the floor of the Colosseum in Rome. In theory, this could lead to the building being used again as an arena, rather than merely preserved and tiptoed around as an historical site.
Italian culture minister Dario Franceschini is backing the idea ‘to give the Colosseum back its arena’ after an archaeologist suggested covering with a new stage its central section, where ancient underground tunnels and compartments for gladiators and animals lie exposed to view.
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