Project description

Ode to Rome is a poem to the city through this design project. As an international student with different cultural norms than local residents, it can be difficult to immerse in the city. This project aims to help expats from different parts of the world connect with each other and gain a deeper appreciation and understanding of the city. The project is inspired by the historic and romantic energy that Rome is famous for. While simultaneously exploring how commercial spaces can be transformed into hybrid residential areas, focusing on creative and experimental solutions that address future residential needs.

Contemporary living for us means simple, functional, and environmentally conscious design. The layout would consist of one and two-bedroom apartments on the fourth floor. Each apartment would have access to natural light and green space. The floor would also have some social spaces, such as lounges and communal kitchens. For young adults today, mental and physical health are becoming increasingly important, and we aim to design solutions to cater to these needs. We will use an indoor layout for the gallery and retain some of the vertical connectors.

Considered one of the most iconic and representative buildings of Italian modernism, the La Rinascente building, designed by Franco Albini and Franca Helg in 1957, serves as an ideal “test bench” for exploring new approaches to modern architecture in response to the significant historical transformations of our time.

The commercial building is often associated with the architectural manifestation of capitalism but also with technological development and mass production. When we think of these buildings, we often think of perfectly organized devices to attract customers and entice them to buy as many products as possible. 

Often the design of these spaces follows the theory of “Bigness” theorized by Rem Koolhaas, in which the large size leads to the loss of the autonomy of architecture that enters into competition with the urban scale. What happens when these buildings lose the function for which they were designed? 

Starting from a historical-critical analysis of La Rinascente by Albini and Helg, a concept that provides for the functional transformation from commercial to hybrid residential spaces was created according to the historical and cultural values that the building represents.