There is an undeniable connection of a city's depth, base, and what is being presented and lived in above. An invisible, hidden infrastructure is a core part of life. It has its own rules, its own visitors and meaning. In the eyes of the users it is not beautiful, not a spectacle. The cloaca maxima is considered the oldest underground sewer system in the world and one of the big cultural inventions of the roman empire. Where it was built the growth of the city followed. Where the city’s core was strong it was built. Without the outside there wouldn’t be a need for the inside, without inside there couldn’t be a strong and flourishing outside.
Its opening to the river of tiber in rome is still visible today, but the insides are not exhibited like the rest of the archeological excavations nearby. But unlike most of the old structures around it is still in use and an essential part of the city above. To show the core of the roman empire, the city of rome today, the path that the cloaca maxima draws underneath the city is elevated above to the inhabited and visited part of the capital. Like the very soul of the city it crosses streets, churches, has an intimate look into residential areas, clean and dirty city quarters and still sits in its depth. For once it is included and visible.