On the second floor of the American Academy in Rome’s 1914 designed McKim, Mead and White Building lies a peculiar hallway. The hallway measures approximately 100 feet long, 12 feet high, and only 32 inches wide. On the eastern side of the hallway is a row of eight identical doors that open into the offices of eight scholars.  Looking west down the hallway is nothing at all, save a blank wall that runs the full length of the cramped space. If you were able to look through this blank wall you would be looking into the main hall of the two-story Arthur and Janet C. Ross Library.  The hallway and the library are separated by a wall but conjoined in plan and section.  As is the case with many Renaissance villas, the front façade is the primary concern for the architect, and this sometimes yields residual aberrations—this hallway was clearly an afterthought. The installation consists of a 1:1 anamorphic view, drawn in situ by Norman Kelley with graphite and ink on the hallway wall, of the library one story below. 

 

Type

1:1 Drawing Installation

Curator

Peter Benson Miller

Exhibition

Cinque Mostre: Time and Again

Venue

American Academy in Rome, McKim, Mead and White Building, Via Angelo Masina 5, Rome, Italy

Dates

February 13, 2014 - March 2, 2014

Project Team

Thomas Kelley, Carrie Norman

Photography

Thomas Kelley