Architecture (Conservation)

The workshop focuses on the Santa Croce in Gerusalemme area, located between Porta Maggiore and Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano, bordered and enclosed by the Aurelian Walls and the Felice Aqueduct along Via Casilina and Viale Castrense, opening onto Piazza di Santa Croce. Within this area, there are numerous artefacts from various periods: the remains of a circus, the Castrense Amphitheatre, the temple of Venus and Cupid from the 3rd century AD, and residences from the 4th century AD; the complex of the Basilica of Santa Croce; the Grenadier Museum and artefacts from the Umberto I barracks from the 1920s, now used as the Infantry History Museum, the Musical Instrument Museum and the headquarters of the Directorate-General for Cinema and Audiovisual. This area is isolated from the rest of the city; the Museum of Musical Instruments and the headquarters of the Directorate-General for Cinema and Audiovisual are invisible from the urban space; both the archaeological remains and the open spaces are inaccessible, enclosed by fences according to the different properties, even though the entire area belongs to the State. The project, which is the result of the Laboratory, will therefore have to address these urban issues on a scale of 1:1000: the accessibility and layout of the large open area to the city; the definition of an urban front on Piazza di Santa Croce and Via Eliana; the creation of a cultural and museum centre and a park that enhances the area and creates new relationships with the rest of the city. It will also have to allow, on an architectural scale (1:500 and 1:200), for the reuse and expansion of the Historical Museum of the Infantry and the Museum of the Grenadiers as exhibition spaces for exhibitions and events; an archaeological museum that documents and protects the ruins; a school of music, cinema and audiovisual arts connected to the Museum of Musical Instruments and the headquarters of the Directorate-General for Cinema and Audiovisual Media.

The course does not require any prerequisites, but as it is a Laboratory I of a master's degree (+2), it is assumed that students have already completed three architectural design laboratories and have acquired the ability to design and draw a building, and have knowledge of contemporary architecture, distribution and typological characteristics.

Gregotti V., Modificazione, in Casabella n. 498/9, 1984 Moneo R., Costruire nel costruito, Allemandi, Torino 2007; Siza A., Ripetere non è mai ripetere, in Immaginare l’evidenza, Laterza 1998; Spirito G., In-between places. Forme dello spazio relazionale dagli anni Sessanta a oggi, Quodlibet 2015 Venezia F., Che cos’è l’architettura: lezioni, conferenze, un intervento, Electa, Milano 2022 Zumthor P., Pensare architettura, Mondadori- Electa, Milano 2003

Attendance at the workshop is compulsory.

The examination will consist of presenting the project boards and models and discussing the design choices. As with the exercises during the course, the urban design part will be carried out in groups and the architectural part individually. The required work is: - Four boards in A1 format 84x59.4 plate 1 – Diagrams, sketches and photographs illustrating the interpretation of the area aimed at explaining the design choices; summary diagrams, sketches and photos of the study models illustrating the process and the proposed design strategies; planivolumetric in scale 1:1000 with insertion of the project and definition of the relationships with the surroundings; references used; table 2 – 1:1000 plan of the ground floor extended to the surrounding area, sections/elevations. table 3/4 – plans, sections and elevations with dimensions and measurements on a scale of 1:500 and 1:200, axonometric projections. - Inclusion of the final project in the 1:1000 scale model of the course; - Models in 1:1500 and/or 1:200 scale.

The course is organised around lectures, classroom activities and three assignments, each dedicated to a specific stage of the design process. The lectures aim to introduce the area and the project theme by exploring issues related to the relationship between architecture and context, providing examples that can suggest strategies and solutions for urban and architectural design. First exercise. The first exercise and classroom activity will be dedicated to reading and understanding the characteristics of the site. Students in groups of three/two will identify the textures, traces, stratifications, geometries, dimensions, settlement principles, views and main perspectives that characterise the area and the buildings within it, making an initial selection of the elements that will define the project. These elements can be represented through diagrams, interpretative models, sketches and photographic reworkings. The delivery of the materials produced and the explanation of the initial design choices through a PowerPoint presentation will take place in class on a date to be announced during the course. Second exercise. The second exercise and related classroom activity will focus on the urban project: the composition of empty and full spaces—the location and size of new buildings for the redefinition of open spaces, the relationship between the new and the existing structures and the rest of the city, the urban front on Piazza di Santa Croce and Via Eliana, etc. It will be carried out in groups of two/three people. The assignment requires the inclusion of the project in the course model on a scale of 1:1000; project strategy diagrams, design references, urban sections and the ground floor plan on a scale of 1:500. The assignment will be handed in during class on a date to be announced during the course. Third exercise. The third exercise and submission will be individual and will concern the architectural design of one of the buildings proposed in the urban project, to be developed in plan, elevations and sections on a scale of 1:500 and 1:200. The submission will take place in class on a date to be announced during the course.