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The Consumption of Landscape: A Grand Tour for the 21st Century

Part 2 Project 2024
Thomas Dutton
Bethany Clarkson
Xhesika Biçaku
Sam Beckwith Flint
University of Liverpool | UK
The thesis reflects on the consumption of landscape: consumption through urban development and consumption through human experience. Focusing on the increasing pressure on Rome from mass tourism and speculative construction, it proposes to re-design a landscape that balances modern tourism needs with historical preservation, re-interpreting the tradition of the Grand Tour. Tracing back the itineraries of 17th and 18th century European aristocracy, and of modern visitors alike, the project proposes a decentralised approach to tourism in order to ease the strain on the city’s historic centre.

Rome’s abandoned ‘ring' of 19th-century forts - planned and built after the Eternal City was made capital of Italy in 1871 - is the basis for an alternative strategy imagining a contemporary Grand Tour. The fort on Via Appia Antica and its surroundings are proposed as a new attraction for visitors, blending historical significance with contemporary needs. Drawing from influential historical analysis on landscape design, from the Acropolis to Stowe, the landscape of the site integrates strategies to enhance the visitor experience while safeguarding the existing heritage. The architectural program is inspired by both the place and the needs of contemporary tourism, enhanced through intelligent, adaptive reuse and sustainable agriculture.


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2024
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