TEATRO DELLA LARGO ARGENTINA
The project is located over a series of ruins within the Largo di Torre Argentina in Rome, Italy’s city-center and positioned in the ancient Campus Martius. The ruins were demolished in the beginning of the 20th century, however upon demolition were discovered to once be the entry to the Theatre of Pompey. An attempt was made to rebuild, however, as it stands, the location is a void within the city.
The project revitalizes this lost space by serving as an extension of the community. The built form, derived from this extension, synthesizes two heterogeneous diagrams; the datum of the ruins within the site and the relationship and orientation of ancient theaters of the Campus Martius. This splayed grid is applied in three dimensions to connect the individual elements of the cinema and museum program while reconnecting the site back to the city.
The project houses a cinema, cinema history museum, office space and café which delineate a public piazza and amphitheater. The design displays the memory, history and emotion of this layered city while reflecting value and meaning through its elements.
Sustainable design practices are used. Limestone collected from the site is re-purposed into exterior finishes. Solar panels are on the auditorium roof. Attention to site specific sun patterns determine window placement. Also, existing steel is re-fabricated into custom design features.
Steel is exercised in multiple forms throughout the design and is integrated in accordance to the site diagrams. Ancient columns are bound in steel, re-erected upon the footprint of their temple and concatenated by a steel circular beam suggestive of an entablature. This beam also serves as the lighting unit for the amphitheater. The use of oxidized steel panels mirror textures and colors present in the city, while the exterior steel raised floor system exposes remaining ruins.