The Omaha-Lincoln Society of the Archaeological Institute of America (AIA), in partnership with
Creighton University's Department of Fine and Performing Arts, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Joslyn Art Museum are pleased to present the prestigious AIA Norton lecture. The program is free and open to the public.
"Complexity and Contradiction in Diocletian’s Palace” presented by Goran Nikšic, City of Split Archaeological Service for the Old City Core in Croatia.
The meaning of Diocletian’s Palace has been oversimplified in most of
scientific research during the past two centuries. Although the original
purpose of this building has recently been established as the imperial
manufacture of textiles, the consequences of such new historical
approach on the understanding of the architecture have not been
contemplated. The well-known interpretation of the Palace as a classical
monument is being substituted with an analysis based on Venturi’s
terms, describing the complexity and contradiction of the building on
both formal and functional levels. The general design is both schematic
and intricate, utilitarian and symbolic. Architectural elements depart
from their usual treatment – columns support themselves and are
decorative rather than structural, spaces are at the same time open and
enclosed. On the functional level there is a clash between the
industrial and domestic use, between the profane and sacred, proletarian
and imperial. However, these contradictions and ambiguities were not
intentional; they are a result of the pragmatic procedure of the
architect obliged to solve the seemingly incompatible requirements by
the emperor. Following many centuries of constant change and adaptation
to the demands of a living city, today the Palace is faced with a
challenge of being reduced to a mere tourist attraction. Understanding
of the real meaning of the place as a complex, ambiguous and
contradictory building could help rectify such a one-dimensional view.
Goran Nikšic heads a Service team whose main task is planning and coordinating reconstruction and
revitalization of Split's historical center, as well as the
implementation of rehabilitation and conservation work on individual
buildings financed from the city budget. An important component
of the Service is to educate the public about the importance of
protecting and preserving historical heritage, as well as informing the
citizens who live or work in the old town on business services and on
the right way to restoration and maintenance of old houses. "Service"
therefore conveys a willingness to help - first of all expert and
advisory - citizens and other protagonists of life in the core.
What's Pictured: Diocletian's Palace Hebrard,1912 (above); Niksic in a Roman sewer (below).
Founded in 1879, the
Archaeological Institute of America (AIA) was chartered by the United States Congress in 1906, in recognition of its role in the development and passage of the Antiquities Act, which Theodore Roosevelt signed into law that year. Today, the AIA remains committed to preserving the world's archaeological resources and cultural heritage for the benefit of people in the present and in the future. The Lincoln-Omaha Society of the Archaeological Institute of America, chartered in 1995, provides the residents of Nebraska and western Iowa opportunities to attend lectures by prominent international, national, and local archaeologists.