Garbatella: A New Urban Plan
Technique: Watercolor Rendering
Fall 2024
This was a group project and is set in the Garbatella neighborhood in Rome. The intent was to restore life and dignity to its decaying entrance. It includes Public, Mixed Use, and Residential buildings. Within the Public buildings, we were required to include a market hall.
Each group member was then required to design an individual market hall for the project.
Rome, Italy
For the design of this project, the group began the process by understanding how people would approach the sight. Both vehicular and pedestrian flow would come from the North, as the two main streets are directed southwards, and the metro station is to the North of the sight. Because of this, the design includes a terraced entrance in Via Alessandro Cialdi. These terraces act as an entrance, exit, and space in itself. This space is framed by an archway and colonnade, inspired by the Canopus in Villa Adriana. The other main entrance is on Via Alberto Guglielmotti, featuring a bridge (characteristic of Garbatella). This frames the view from the street towards the site.
In our site analysis, we learned that the most public area was North of the site, and it became more residential towards the South. Therefore, a chapel, the market hall, and other public and mixed-use buildings were incorporated in the upper part of the site. In the lower part, residential blocks were included. The masterplan plays with elements of compression and expansion. When approaching the site from Via Alberto Guglielmotti, one is compressed by the building and the tunnel under the bridge, and the surroundings then expand into the central garden area. From this garden, one can follow a narrow path upwards, lined by a porticoed walkway with restaurants. This then expands into the piazza, where the chapel and market hall are found.
In the group phase of the design, the market hall was incorporated as a containment element of a public space. Therefore, the market hall is not intended to be the main focus of the space, as opposed to the space itself. Therefore, the design of the market hall was made with this in mind. It is intended to serve as a market hall, but also as a community pavilion, flexible to the needs of the inhabitants. The facade design is inspired by the very eclectic Garbatella, taking precedent from several buildings in the neighborhood.