Silence and Clamor

Abstract

Luigi Vanvitelli’s reuse project for the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Rome offers interesting insights into the meaning of architectural reuse, providing relevant points of discussion even for the present times. Research shows an overwhelming amount of negative criticism around the intervention, starting at the time of its construction and continuing until the end of the 20th century. This paper aims to understand the reasons behind the enduring negativity the project faced, all the while examining the basis for such criticism.
Comparative redrawing was used to bridge the gap between rarely consulted archival resources, helping to clarify the paternity of different design choices. In addition, photographic surveys were used to analyse Vanvitelli’s design, while primary and secondary sources helped to understand how critics perceived the church.
The paper demonstrates how the reasons behind such critiques were not based on the intrinsic features of the project, but rather proved to be the result of underlying systems of thought. In fact, many of such critics are proven to consider one of the building phases (by Michelangelo Buonarroti) as perfect and untouchable, regarding all future development as damaging to that ideal state.
The results show how buildings, when emancipated from the influence of their creators, offer themselves to a broader multiplicity of readings. In addition, to fully understand the quality of a reuse project, it is necessary to shed any bias and refrain from establishing strong hierarchies between its layers.