Architect, Artist Mark Robbins to Present 'Rome in America' Lecture on Sept. 21

Image courtesy Mark Robbins

Armadillo Vault, "Beyond Bending" exhibition, Venice Biennale 2016

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Mark Robbins will present a lecture at 4 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21, in Ken and Linda Sue Shollmier Hall, Room 250 of Vol Walker Hall, on the University of Arkansas campus, as part of the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design lecture series.

This lecture is presented in conjunction with the 30th anniversary celebration of the University of Arkansas Rome Center. As part of that celebration, Andrew Saunders also will give a lecture on Sept. 21 at 1 p.m.

Robbins is president of the American Academy in Rome, as well as an artist and architect. He was an American Academy of Rome Fellow in 1997. Robbins presents his work at the intersection of public space, art and urban design, and speaks about the role of cultural institutions in a civil society.

In his lecture, "Rome in America," he will explore the long history of Rome as a fundamental component of architectural and design pedagogy, and the place of the American Academy in Rome within that tradition. The American Academy in Rome was founded in 1894 as the American School of Architecture and fused with the American School of Classical Studies the following year. It now houses 11 disciplinary fields in an increasingly international community. The Academy provides a unique setting for the intersection of artistic and scholarly practices.

Citing references drawn from the Academy, Robbins will discuss the impact of collaborative, interdisciplinary work for practitioners of both the arts and the humanities. More broadly, he will address the relationship between the discursive and non-discursive enterprise of scholars and artists.

The school is pursuing continuing education credits for this lecture through the American Institute of Architects and the American Society of Landscape Architects.

The public is invited to attend. Admission is free, with limited seating.

For more information, contact 479-575-4704 or fayjones.uark.edu.