In ancient Rome, the domus (plural domūs, genitive domūs or domī) was the type of house occupied by the upper classes and some wealthy freedmen during the Republican and Imperial eras. It could be found in almost all the major cities throughout the Roman territories. The modern English word domestic comes from Latin domesticus, which is derived from the word domus. The word dom in modern Slavic languages means "home" and is a cognate of the Latin word, going back to Proto-Indo-European. Along with a domus in the city, many of the richest families of ancient Rome also owned a separate country house known as a villa. Many chose to live primarily, or even exclusively, in their villas; these homes were generally much grander in scale and on larger acres of land due to more space outside the walled and fortified city.
The elite classes of Roman society constructed their residences with elaborate marble decorations, inlaid marble paneling, doorjambs and columns as well as expensive paintings and frescoes. Many poor and lower-middle-class Romans lived in crowded, dirty and mostly rundown rental apartments, known as insulae. These multi-level apartment blocks were built as high and tightly together as possible and held far less status and convenience than the private homes of the prosperous.
Domus is an architecture and design magazine founded in 1928 by architect Gio Ponti and Barnabite father Giovanni Semeria. Published by Editoriale Domus, the magazine is issued 11 times a year on a monthly basis and has its headquarters in Rozzano, Milan.
The first issue of Domus, subtitled "Architecture and decor of the modern home in the city and in the country," was published on 15 January 1928. Its mission was to renew architecture, interiors and Italian decorative arts without overlooking topics of interest to women, like the art of homemaking, gardening and cooking. Gio Ponti delineated the magazine's goals in his editorials, insisting on the importance of aesthetics and style in the field of industrial production.
Gianni Mazzocchi, a young, 23-year-old publisher who had moved to Milan from the Marche region, purchased Domus on 11 July 1929 and founded Editoriale Domus, which today publishes numerous magazines (Quattroruote, Meridiani, Tuttotrasporti, Il Cucchiaio d'Argento, etc.).
The Documentation Centre for Music (DOMUS), at the Stellenbosch University Music Library, has its origins in the work and interests of staff and students at the Department of Music at Stellenbosch University. These include, at various times, academic staff members and Music library staff. The existence of this Centre on a more formal basis is due to the efforts of Prof. Stephanus Muller, and funding provided by the Stellenbosch University Music Department and the Vice-rector Research at Stellenbosch University. In August 2005 an archivist was appointed.
Aims of DOMUS
DOMUS aims to collect, conserve/preserve, sort, and catalogue, for the benefit of research on postgraduate level, the literary estates of composers, performers and musicologists, as well as documentation collections of music institutions.
Collections at DOMUS
DOMUS houses over 40 collections. These collections that have mostly been acquired by bequest include (excerpts from collection list):