This studio asks students to investigate the relationship between the city, architecture, and public space, with the goal of producing a critical reflection and subsequently developing design proposals intended to demonstrate architecture’s capacity to shape, redefine, and activate public space. The assignment is a proposed design of a mixed-use complex in three urban nodes within the central archaeological area in Rome. The three selected areas present similar urban, architectural, morphological, and topographical challenges. Underlying the course is a reflection on the concept of palimpsest: students will reflect on the presence of the various traces that have accumulated over time and on the role of memory within such a significant place.

Rome’s central archaeological area, the symbolic heart and physical center of the city, is the focus of renewed and intense interest from both public administration and the general public. This interest stems from the fact that this area, arranged during the Fascist regime as a grand stage set designed primarily to showcase the empire’s magnificence, no longer serves as the civic and symbolic center of the city, despite its geographical centrality. Overrun daily by hundreds of thousands of tourists, lacking adequate services for both residents and visitors, and poorly connected to the rest of the city, this area risks becoming a “black hole” within the city. Students will consider how they can contribute to returning this part of the city to its citizens by transforming the central archaeological area into a large and multifaceted system of public spaces.

The result of the studio will be a complete development of a project in all its different aspects and scales, from urban settlement to architectural definition. The design process will be structured in four phases– analysis of the site, definition of the program, definition of project’s structure, and the final project–allowing for a detailed analysis of the various steps. Students will develop different working hypotheses on the proposed topic and through texts, drawings, sketches, models, and diagrams will demonstrate a critical understanding of the topic shown in the final deliverables.

Student evaluation will consider the overall ability to address the themes and questions raised by the studio. Attention will be given to comprehension of the site, environment, and context; ability to interpret the given functional program based on their understanding of the topic; development of analytical and interpretative skills; connection of abstract ideas to real architectural proposals; and development of representational and communication skills.

This studio is supported by the Kenzō Tange Visiting Chair in Architecture and Urban Design.