The dominant trends in modern and contemporary architecture seem to have forgotten the importance of people's ties to different territories, historical places, and traditions. Nonetheless, for more than thirty years, in parallel with the common practice of “designing for any place”, a number of architects and town planners have created works of great aesthetic, social, environmental and economic value, in order to respond to the sense of identity and belonging which lies at the base of human living.
The recent incentives of the European Community and local governments to revitalise the building sector, as well as laws on urban regeneration, unintentionally risk damaging territorial heritage, rather than protecting it, enhancing it and, as a result, improving the economy, cities and the environment. In fact, since the real estate market is unprofitable in new and anonymous urban districts, the interests of those operating in the sector are increasingly turning to historically characterised urban realities.
Yet, at a time when the UN conferences on climate change impose deadlines for energy efficiency (think of the outcomes of COP 26, 27 and 28), rather than allowing the demolition and replacement of solid historic edifices, one should intervene on hastily and unscrupulously erected post-war constructions. In fact, as the native Americans teach, every building should be planned for “the seventh generation”: this was certainly the case for historic buildings, but not for those which sprang up after the war.

In this sense, with the aim of changing the ways of designing cities and mobility therein, a number of institutes have set up study programmes in Italy to allow their students to get to know our urban centres at first-hand, understanding their development, uniqueness and dynamics, and eventually return to creating sustainable buildings (and lives). In fact, it is necessary to learn anew a method of reading places and their distinctive characteristics, in order to operate with respect for the territories and those who inhabit them, while adapting different design solutions to the needs of the XXI century.
Every place is characterised by modes of use, present and past, and transformation processes that new architectural and urban planning interventions must take into account, overcoming self-referential ambitions that tend to separate functional and physical areas. Therefore, any “urban regeneration” requires a holistic (re)vision of the city, as well as an action that is sensitive to the needs of all citizens, and attentive to social, economic, anthropological, environmental and historical aspects. Without an organic vision of the roots and contexts of each place, we would end up leading our heritage to disappear and countries to be no different from others, thus undermining, as a side-effect, tourist flows and the national economy.
Unfortunately, those who dare to look over their shoulders are often accused of retrograde, die-hard nostalgia. To this, one could respond paraphrasing Maria Ponti Pasolini’s warning of 1915: “in Italy, more than elsewhere, we believe ourselves to be hindered by tradition, which, however glorious, weighs on many like a leaden cloak. But tradition may be, as Manzoni said of error, an obstacle against which the blind stumble, but for those who care to lift their foot it becomes a step to attain greater heights”. [1]
Thanks to the correct analysis of places, and to the recovery in Italy of those instruments cancelled by the laws of 1925-26, today we would have the possibility of favouring the reconsolidation of our cities and the improvement of living conditions in the suburbs. We would also put an end to soil consumption, restore land to the countryside, improve climatic conditions, and create public profit - rather than an increase in debt.
This conference, organized by the Accademia Vivarium novum, intends to demonstrate the feasibility of such a city. [2] We are therefore addressing not only architects and urban planners, but above all trade associations, builders, real estate developers, professionals, politicians, and citizens, exemplifying our advocacy with towns that have already been built and that will be illustrated directly by the individuals who designed them and permitted their construction. Our goal is to redirect programs of urban planning and current regulations in the name of a future to be left to posterity.
We therefore propose urban operation designed for the seventh generation, one which our children and grandchildren can benefit from, rather than pay the bill - an operation that, in a word, we could define as "heritable".

“People are happy in cities which are beautiful.” - Elio Vittorini, The cities of the world
“Unnatural metropolitan concentrations do not fill any void, rather they accentuate it. A man living in cages built of concrete, in crowded hives, in asphyxiating barracks, is a man condemned to solitude.” - Eugenio Montale

Notes

[1] Maria Ponti Pasolini, Il Giardino Italiano, E. Loescher & Co., Rome, 1915, p. 4.
[2] The 2025 edition is the second of a series of yearly conferences on architecture and urbanism organized by the Accademia Vivarium novum. The first, which took place in April 2024 with the title “Firmitas, Utilitas, Venustas: for the rebirth of a humane architecture”, has received the moral patronage of the international movement New Traditional Architecture; the University of Rome “Tor Vergata”; FAI Fondo per l'Ambiente Italiano - Rome Delegation; the Order of Architects of Rome; the Order of Engineers of Rome; Pulchria; Studio ACAM; and the Innovation Festival of Frascati.

In person: reservation required by writing to convegni@vivariumnovum.net.

Virtually: it will be possible to register on the Zoom platform to follow the conference remotely, through the link that will be published within a month.

A simultaneous translation into English will be available both remotely and in presence.

Training scholarships:

The Academy Vivarium novum is offering 10 training scholarships for participation in the conference, covering the costs of board and lodging at the Campus facilities.

The scholarships are reserved for students in the last two years of high school, university students, graduates and teachers of all levels. Priority will be given to students from architecture faculties. The scholarship includes the obligation of residence and conference attendance and the submission of a final report (max. 25,000 characters) to be delivered by 30th August 2025. A certificate of attendance will be issued upon receipt of the report.

To apply for the scholarships, please send a short letter of motivation, a synthetic biography, a copy of your ID, as well as the completed application form (to be published shortly) to the address convegni@vivariumnovum.net. Deadline: May 20^th, 2025. Successful applicants will receive a confirmation by May 30^th.

THURSDAY, 5th JUNE

Scuderie Aldobrandini, Frascati

9:30 Institutional greetings

Francesca Sbardella (Mayor of Frascati)

Alfredo Moraci (Director of the Museo Civico Tuscolano Scuderie Aldobrandini)

On. Fabio Rampelli (Vice President of the Chamber of Deputees)

10:15 Luigi Miraglia (President of the Accademia Vivarium novum) – Introduction to the conference.

10:30 Léon Krier (Master-planner, Architectural and Artistic Coordinator, Luxembourg) – Opening presentation.

11:15 Break and visit of the exhibition of world-wide projects of traditional urban architecture

First session: Utopia is reality – chair: Ettore Maria Mazzola (School of Architecture, University of Notre Dame, Rome Program)

12:00 Sen. Philippe Pemezec (Mayor of Le Plessis-Robinson, France) – Dreaming of beauty is no utopia: Le Plessis-Robinson, from a social disaster to a dream-place to live in.

12:30 Xavier Bohl (Atelier Xavier Bohl, France) – Contemporary classical-traditional urbanism and architecture: Xavier Bohl’s urban regeneration projects in France.

13:00 Questions and discussion

Villa Falconieri

Second session: Traditional practice around the world - chair: Michael Diamant (Founder of New Traditional Architecture, Sweden)

15:30 Marc Breitman and Nada Breitman-Jakov (Breitman & Breitman, France) – The city as a project.

16:00 Margot van Niele (Director of Anedra, Developer of Brandevoort, Netherlands) – Contemporary classical-traditional urbanism and architecture: the experience of the new town of Brandevoort.

16:30 Ettore Maria Mazzola (School of Architecture, University of Notre Dame, Rome program) Urban Regeneration in Doha.

17:00 Break

17:30 Maher Azmi Abu-Samra (MAS Design Studio, Jordan) – Traditional architecture in the Arab Countries: the projects of Maher Azmi Abu-Samra.

18:00 Maxim Atayants (Maxim Atayants Workshop, Russia) – Contemporary classical- traditional urbanism and architecture: the projects of Maxim Atayants in Russia.

18:30 Questions and discussion

19:00 Concert of the Choir Tyrtarion of the Accademia Vivarium novum

Conclusion of the first day

FRIDAY, 6th JUNE

Villa Falconieri (Accademia Vivarium novum)

9:30 Institutional greetings

Alessandro Panci (President of the Order of Architects of the Province of Rome)

Sen. Marco Silvestroni to be confirmed

Third session: The ideal city of the XXI century, part I – chair: Ettore Maria Mazzola (School of Architecture, University of Notre Dame, Rome program)

10:00 Maria Sánchez and Pedro Pablo Godoy (Estudio Urbano, Guatemala) – Contemporary classical-traditional urbanism and architecture: the new town of Cayalà in Guatemala.

10:30 José Cornélio da Silva (Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Portugal) – Contemporary classical-traditional urbanism and architecture: the projects of José Cornelio da Silva in Portugal.

11.00 Break

11:30 Piercarlo Bontempi (Studio Bontempi, Italy) – Contemporary classical-traditional urbanism and architecture: the projects of Piercarlo Bontempi.

12:00 John Simpson (John Simpson Architects; University of Cambride, UK) – The age of reconstruction.

12:30 Jonathan Weatherill (School of Architecture, University of Notre Dame, Rome program): – Contemporary classical-traditional urbanism and architecture: the projects of Jonathan Weatherill.

13:00 Questions and discussion

15:00 Visit of Villa Falconieri and presentation of the Poikile project

Fourth session: The ideal city of the XXI century, part II – chair: Ettore Maria Mazzola (School of Architecture, University of Notre Dame, Rome program)

16:30 Liam O’Connor (Liam O’Connor Architects, UK) - Res Publica – Res Privata: Why Classical architecture holds the key to a an economically robust, sustainable and culturally rich future.

17:00 Nir Buras (Classic Planning Institute, USA) – The art of classic planning: building beautiful and enduring communities.

17:30 Break

18:00 Alejandro García Hermida (School of architecture of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid) – Contemporary traditional building techniques in Spain and Morocco.

18:30 James Brainard (former Mayor of Carmel, Indiana, USA) – Dreaming of beauty is no utopia: Carmel (Indiana), from urban sprawl to the recognition as best city to live in.

19:00 Question and discussion

19:30 Concert (special guest, Annabelle Cardron, soprano) Conclusion of the second day

SATURDAY, 7th JUNE

Villa Falconieri (Accademia Vivarium novum)

11:30 Institutional Greetings

• Gianluigi Peduto (former Senior Advisor of the Bank of Italy– Coordinator of the Festival of Innovation of Frascati)
• Federica Brancaccio (President of ANCE, National Association of Constructors, Italy) – to be confirmed

Fifth session: Building and rebuilding with respect for history and the environment – chair: Giuseppe Morganti (Regional President, FAI Lazio)

12:00 Hermann Graser (CEO of Bamberger Natursteinwerk, Germany) – Natural stone as a load-bearing building material for the construction, restoration and reconstruction of buildings.

12:30 Thomas Albrecht (Hilmer, Sattler, Albrecht Architects, Germany; School of Architecture, University of Notre Dame, Rome program) – Taking up the language and pattern of already existing architecture: two examples of 1984 and 2017.

13:00 Questions and discussion

Sixth session: Theory and Practice of Traditional Architecture and Urbanism – chair: Michael Diamant (Founder of New Traditional Architecture, Sweden)

15:30 Giuseppe Morganti (Regional President FAI Lazio) An example of urban regeneration in Treviso: the university and the square of Latin humanism by Paolo Portoghesi.

16:00 Markus Tubbesing (University of Applied Sciences, Potsdam, Germany) – An alternative to the post-war “tabula rasa” project of 1963 for Berlin-Charlottenburg.

16:30 Craig Hamilton (Craig Hamilton Architects, UK) – An oasis in the desert: the architecture of Old Parkland, Dallas, Texas.

17:00 Break

17:30 Robert Adam (Adam Architects; University of Strathclyde, UK) – Space, Time and Urban Design.

18:00 Mark Wilson Jones (Apollodorus Architecture, Bath, UK) – Contemporary classical-traditional urbanism and architecture in UK: a new rugby stadium for the city of Bath.

18:30 Sara Bega (Town Architect, Las Catalinas, Costa Rica) – The city within nature: the example of Las Catalinas in Costa Rica. Remote intervention via Zoom platform.

19:00 Questions and discussion

19:30 Concert

Conclusion of the third day

SUNDAY, 8th JUNE

Villa Falconieri (Accademia Vivarium novum)

11:30 Institutional greetings

Massimo Cerri (President of the Order of Engineers of the Province of Rome) – to be confirmed

Claudio Cerroni (Councillor of public works, maintenance, and agriculture of Frascati)

Seventh session: When dreams come true – chair: Michael Diamant (founder of New Traditional Architecture, Sweden)

12:00 Ben Bolgar (King’s Foundation; University of Wales Trinity Saint David; Oxford University, UK) – Contemporary regionalism in the UK, from Poundbury to 12 new towns to be constructed.

12:30 George Saumarez Smith (Adam Architecture, UK) – Contemporary Classicism in the UK: Easy, Moderate, Difficult, Impossible

13:00 Questions and discussion

Eighth session: The inheritable city – chair: Ettore Maria Mazzola (School of Architecture, University of Notre Dame, Rome program)

15:30 Samir Younés (School of Architecture, University of Notre Dame, USA) – Dwelling wisely.

16:00 Patrick Delamotte (Architecture practice, France) – Ornament today.

16:30 Maurice Culot (Architect and Publisher, France and Belgium) to be confirmed

17:00 Break

17:30 Michael Diamant (Founder of New Traditional Architecture, Sweden) - The possibilities of New Traditional Architecture - from crime prevention to easing family formation in urban centres.

18:00 Ruben Hanssen (Founder of the website and channel The Aesthetic City) – Screening of the documentary-film “All over the world they’re building beautiful places again.”

18:30 Open discussion and closing remarks

19:00 Award ceremony of the First inheritable architecture and urban planning contest Hereditas Urbium