This study considers the urban development of Rome in the mid- seventeenth century as conceived and guided by the Chigi pope, Alexander VII. Focusing on discrete zones within the city, including the Quirinal, the Piazza del Popolo, Piazza S. Marco, the Corso, and the Vatican, Dorothy Metzger Habel suggests that Alexander VII masterminded a new conceptualization of the city, which was grounded in the architectural formulae of late antique Roman Asia. Using these principles, Habel argues, architects and builders were sensitized to the physical characteristics of particular sites and drew relationships between buildings within the urban fabric. These planning methods contributed formally and iconographically to the architectural future of Rome. Including an in-depth analysis of all available evidence - archival sources, working and presentational drawings, and the physical fabric of key monuments and their situation within the topography of Rome - Habel's book offers a new and innovative model for histories of urban architecture and planning.
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