Blue Jo

In the first century, a Roman theater was built into the northern hillside of Sagunto. It was repaired in the third century, before gradually falling into ruin due to neglect, war, and looting. By 1896, when it was declared a national Spanish monument, the theater had suffered the collapse of its scene and severely eroded bleachers. In 1984, Giorgio Grassi proposed a rehabilitation of the theater, with the aim of reviving its use. The project involved a rationalist reconstruction of the damaged sections.

This drawing investigates the reconstruction of the bleachers, based on images and a 2008 ground-penetrating radar study. The Roman construction starts with a layer of concrete set directly on top of limestone bedrock. Large stone blocks on the edges of each seating level would have provided a regular surface for the original limestone seat-tops, which have since been lost. Grassi’s addition starts with a layer of plastic netting, presumably placed with the intent of making the changes reversible. Stone rubble, loosely bonded with patches of mortar, then sits on top of the ruins. This rubble forms a surface on which thin travertine seat tops are precisely mounted. From the radar study, we know that there is some metal reinforcement below the travertine. Because of this, a system using metal angles to align the slabs is hypothesized.

Grassi’s renovation has been criticized by preservationists and architects alike, who cite its irreversibility, insufficient historical research by the architects, and sloppy detailing. Critics noted that the plastic netting placed between the Roman concrete and the new rubble did not prevent mortar from bonding to the ruins. Additionally, the height and arrangement of the new bleachers does not match that of the original Roman ones. Despite all this, there is a conceptual clarity in how the recomposed bleachers layer on top of and mirror the original Roman construction, ressurecting it for a modern audience.