Sculpture – Environmental Sculpture and Lapis Tiburtinus Programme

Learning Objectives

The second-level Academic Diploma Course entitled “Environmental Sculpture and Lapis Tiburtinus” aims to define a specialisation in Sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, bringing it to the wider public through recently consolidated initiatives involving sculpture and its inclusion in outdoor environments. The project focuses in particular on sculpture in the context of the environment, the city and the landscape. The objective is to design and understand the location where the sculpture will be created. A course of study designed to create works of art by students that are in perfect harmony with the location. In particular, the course sets out to focus attention on Rome’s stone, “Lapis Tiburtinus”, or Roman travertine, as a potential resource not only for the Lazio area, but also for the Academy of Fine Arts in the capital itself. The course seeks to prepare students to compete in public and private tenders for urban furniture projects, equipping them with the skills to carry out their work directly and independently and/or to supervise the work competently.
At the end of the two-year course, students will have the opportunity to participate in a workshop organised with public institutions in collaboration with La Sapienza University and the Lazio Region Department of Environment and Sustainable Development. The workshop will take place in public spaces and focus on enhancing these spaces through sculpture, creating “cultural trails in nature” in parks, gardens and art forests.

Career prospects

The course aims to train professional sculptors who are particularly skilled in working with “Lapis Tiburtinus” stone. In order to increase their chances of entering the job market, graduates will be able to design projects aimed at promoting cultural, archaeological and natural heritage.
With this in mind, the course includes the creation of works in the travertine quarries themselves, as well as learning about the local area, where human intervention in the extraction of ancient and modern disused quarries has transformed the landscape, giving rise to unexpected forms of expression which, through a new interpretation, can be re-evaluated and become a source of new design inspiration.

Entry requirements

The Second-Level Academic Diploma Course in “Environmental Sculpture and Lapis Tiburtinus” is open to those holding a four-year academic diploma in Sculpture, or a first-level diploma in “Visual Arts and Performing Arts”, specialising in Sculpture or Decoration, or Painting, Scenography and Graphics and all first-level courses, provided that the “Sculpture Workshop” or “Marble and Hard Stone Techniques” or “Sculpture Techniques” or “Foundry Techniques” exam has been taken.
The course is also open to graduates in Architecture, DAMS, ISIA and European Community Universities.
Applicants will take an entrance exam for the course, which will consist of the evaluation of project documentation by a designated committee.

Type of final assessment

The final assessment will consist of the presentation of a project in the form of a thesis carried out under the supervision of one or more course lecturers. A project proposal accompanied by a scaled sketch is also required.