On 6 and 7 December 2011, the American Academy’s Villa Aurelia was the venue for an international conference entitled “Paradigm and Progeny: Roman Imperial Architecture and Its Legacy”. The aim was to commemorate the work of William L. MacDonald, FAAR’56 (1921-2010).

The conference concluded with an installment of the Academy series Conversations That Matter, moderated by American Academy in Rome Director Christopher S. Celenza, FAAR’94, and AAR Trustee John A. Pinto, FAAR'75, RAAR'06, Howard Crosby Butler Memorial Professor of the History of Architecture at Princeton University.

Participants included Laurie Olin, FAAR’74, RAAR’90,’08, landscape architect and partner at OLIN in Philadelphia; Frederick Fisher, FAAR’08, architect and partner at Frederick Fisher and Partners in Los Angeles; and Stephen Kieran, FAAR’81, architect and partner at KieranTimberlake in Philadelphia.

The Conversation focused on how contemporary architects and designers have been inspired by the classical past and how that inspiration is reflected in their work.

Organizing the conference along with John Pinto were Diane Favro, professor of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of California, Los Angeles; and Fikret K. Yegül, RAAR'98, professor of Roman Art and Architecture at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

The conference was funded with grants from The Richard H. Driehaus Charitable Trust, The Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.