architect: orizzontale

location: Largo Bartolomeo Perestrello, Roma

year: 2017

After a series of similar projects, the team of orizzontale returned to work on a suburb of Rome. At this time, it is about Largo Bartolomeo Perestrello in Marranella area, inside “Municipio V” in Rome.
This suspended place is currently a large empty area due to never-completed urban transformations, yet it has a great potential and it is suitable for the most varied spontaneous uses; communities, citizens and local associations daily enrich it with stratified traces and meanings. The square is devoid of toponomastic and takes its name from the adjacent broad. The theme of identity, therefore, is proposed right away as a challenge and work objective.

The Iceberg metaphor is a reflection about the neighborhood’s invisible resources, submerged realities, and development potential, starting from the recognition of what is present and trying to bring out local energies.

The process
From July to the first half of September, a series of preliminary meetings with local administration and associations were held to define and share the goals and premises of the work. From September 18 to September 22, 2017, the square became an urban laboratory: associations, citizenship, students and professionals from architecture, design, art and psychology fields met to debate about its future. The two workshops, construction and urban exploration, were aimed at achieving minimum public infrastructure and conducting an investigation into the local culture of the Marranella district.

photo by orizzontale, NOEO

The concept
The objects built during “Iceberg - Perestrello 3.0” workshop have the goal of forming an urban space designed system and being the first infrastructure to foster communities gathering and aggregation in the area. The Iceberg has intervened within the fluxes and the ways of enjoying the square.

photo by orizzontale, NOEO

The architectural elements
They built together with twenty students two main temporary architectural elements, one table and one bleacher. Both objects consist of solid wood of silver fir with variable sections. The two elements are visually linked to each other thanks to a floor graphic developed inside the construction workshop and made by a public space ground signage company.
The bleacher, which represents the tip of the iceberg, occupies an area of ​​about 25sqm and consists of three concentric levels of 50 cm high per floor. The three floors are connected to each other by steps of 25 cm high.
The table, served by two large seats, is the second element of the intervention. Made with the same building technique as the bleacher, it has a 6sqm footprint and a height of 80 cm.

photo by orizzontale, NOEO

The temporary and usability
The intervention is designed to be completely reversible and does not substantially alter the context in which it’s inserted.
Both objects can be enjoyed daily by users and also for organized activities, as meeting venues for discussions, small events and moments of collective socialization.
For instance, on September 23, 2017, the architectural devices worked as a set-up for “New Generations Festival” opening event Petcha Kutcha Night.

The graft
Iceberg project represents a small graft within the vast area of ​​Largo Bartolomeo Perestrello, and it’s part of a wider process. A working table with local associations that joined the initiative has been set up, in order for the intervention to continue and to become a flywheel for local community development. The associations represent a resource and a valuable interlocutor for monitoring and managing the infrastructures through activities that test the square program while keeping it active.

axo by orizzontale

 

title Iceberg
architects orizzontale
partecipants at the workshop Marta Anna Stella Vizzini, Tracagni Anna, Monaco Maria Alessandra, Cappucci Andrea, Rex Lina, Gualtieri Claudia, Piccioni Damiano, Borea Giulia, Domenico Rubino Rub Kandy, Mucci Ludovica, Eusebio Allegra, Valente Giulia, Simotti Ivan, Sorrentino Marta, Parente Valentina, Tramontano Riccardo, Pigna Annarita, Marianantoni Valerio, Marta De Filippis, Ciongoli Francesco, De Vita Riccardo, Arzenton Linda
promoted by Roma Capitale Assessorato alla crescita culturale 2017
typology workshop, public space
status built
date September 2017
client Associazione culturale New Generations, Itinerant Office
location Largo Bartolomeo Perestrello, Municipio V, Rome, Italy
photographer orizzontale, NOEO
collaborators NOEO, Itinerant Office