The Renaissance Villa and Garden

The Accademia Vivarium novum is launching the first Summer School in Garden Design, which will take place at Villa Falconieri from May 9 to 23, 2026.

This program will teach the theoretical and practical principles of the architectural typology of the Italian Renaissance villa and garden. For the duration of two weeks, participants will be fully immersed in the territory of Frascati, located just south of Rome in the Alban hills, to study the ruins of the ancient villae suburbanae and the circuit of the Tusculan villas which from the sixteenth century served as magnificent summer retreats of the Roman aristocracy.

Participants will be housed in the historic Villa Falconieri, currently home to the Accademia Vivarium novum, which provides an excellent example of a Renaissance villa combining the ancient concept of otium with the theme of villeggiatura (life in the villa) in close relationship with nature (wild, domesticated, cultivated or formally designed), amidst woods, orchards, fields and gardens.