138 — Piranesi 3 — Ichnographiam Campii Martii
From About Buildings + Cities by Architecture, History + Culture, with Luke Jones & George Gingell
May 26, 2026 · 59 min · Season 1
About this episode
The episode discusses Giovanni Battista Piranesi's inventive project, Ichnographia Campii Martii, blending archaeology with fantasy in a reconstruction of Ancient Rome.
In the penultimate episode of our series on Giovanni Battista Piranesi, we discussed his Ichnographia Campii Martii, one of his stranged and most inventive projects, a vast reconstruction of Ancient Rome, which blends together a little bit of archaeology with a massive injection of fantasy, plastering much of the open countryside around the city with endless, fractal Beaux Arts geometries. At around 30 minutes George can't remember the name of a large multi-vaulted commercial/light industrial antique building, it is in fact the Porticus Aemilia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porticus_Aemilia Follow along with the images by watching this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/zqTH3-GPyzQ Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts. Mixing by Lewis Todd. Support the show on Patreon to receive bonus content for every show. Please rate and review the show on your podcast store to help other people find us! Follow us on twitter // instagram // facebook We’re on the web at aboutbuildingsandcities.org This podcast is powered by Pinecast .
People in this episode
Hosts: Luke Jones, George Gingell
Topics covered
- Giovanni Battista Piranesi
- Ancient Rome
- architecture
- fantasy
- Beaux Arts geometries
- reconstruction
Keywords
- Piranesi
- Ichnographia Campii Martii
- Ancient Rome
- architecture
- fantasy
- Beaux Arts
- reconstruction
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Porticus Aemilia, Pinecast
Books & works: Ichnographia Campii Martii
Places: Ancient Rome
More episodes of About Buildings + Cities
- 139 — Piranesi 4 — The Prisons · June 9, 2026 · 55 min
- 137 — Piranesi 2 — The Antiquities of Rome · April 23, 2026 · 57 min
- 136 — Piranesi 1 — Prima Parte · March 27, 2026 · 54 min
- *Preview* Show and Tell Bonus — Santa Maria del Naranco & Frank Lloyd Wright in Oak Park · February 18, 2026 · 2 min
- 135 — Show and Tell — Enigmatic Ancient Pavilions · January 29, 2026 · 51 min
- 134 — William Golding's 'The Spire' · December 18, 2025 · 1h 2m
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