Cento

Cento

Sapienza University of Rome

On the occasion of the centenary of the School of Architecture of Sapienza University of Rome, in collaboration with the collective AIM – Architettura In Mobilitazione, Professor Alfonso Giancotti and Faculty Dean Orazio Carpenzano, we went back to design the place where we were trained as architects.

The site is the outcome of transformation and subtraction operations that, over the last two decades, have failed to shape a place suitable for students, their needs and desires. The latest pandemic hit has made it a neglected and underutilized place.

The choice was to replace the emptiness with a living and growing space that could renew the bond between the students and the place where they daily grow as professionals and as individuals, bringing out the hidden beauty of Valle Giulia.

A lake has temporarily covered the old sports field, creating an unexpected and changing landscape, sensitive to the changing light and seasons and to the mutations that the students will experience in the years to come. A large open-air laboratory, a place of wonder and discovery, experiments and experiences, a place to meet, learn, enjoy and celebrate.

The intervention had the objective of involving the students in a practical experience that would allow them to reimagine the spaces of the faculty and its design tools: the process ended with the development of a master plan that will address in stages the transformation of the entire external area of Valle Giulia.