The restoration of a simulated ruin: the Ruined Temple of Villa Albani Torlonia.
"It is arguably the first ruined temple in the history of architecture, commissioned by Cardinal Alessandro Albani in the garden of his splendid Villa on the Via Salaria, just outside Rome. The villa was constructed based on a design by Carlo Marchionni between 1747 and 1763. Johann Joachim Winckelmann was responsible for organizing the immense collection of antique artworks displayed there, while Anton Raphael Mengs frescoed the ceiling of the main hall with Parnassus. It is also believed that Giovan Battista Nolli worked on the terracing, gardens, and smaller buildings of the extensive surrounding area of the Villa, which was acquired in 1866 and became the Albani-Torlonia estate."
Part of the gaps, voids, disintegration, and, more generally, the deterioration of the material is an intrinsic part of the monument's character.
The illusion of antiquity is also conveyed through the simulation of ruin. Among the elements that enhance the sense of encountering a classical building is the broken pediment and the damaged lower sections. It is easy to imagine the collapse affecting, at an angle of about 45°, all the elements of the right side of the façade - from the tympanum and columns to the crepidoma. This sense of collapse is further emphasized by the exposed, falling masonry.
Following a series of structural investigations on the building, it was deemed necessary to implement a series of interventions that, while respecting the historical significance of the site and in coordination with the architectural and surface restoration projects, also contributed significantly to reducing seismic risk for this delicate monument.
Since some of the signs of deterioration actively participated in creating the illusion of ruin - combined with the simulated collapse of the right side - the overall restoration aimed to recognize and preserve this peculiarity. The intervention focused solely on addressing the causes of the most severe physical and material decay, which threatened the preservation of the monument itself.