City of Age

“CHAIN OF AGES”

The potential of Rome is in its history- beneath its streets we are offered a glimpse into various times since 750BC. At the same time, having this deep history is Rome’s biggest burden, as every new construction project is questioned by the dominant past underlying the city. “Chain of Ages” would offer a bridge between the past and the contemporary through excavations and additives. This chain of constructions showcases all the various ages of Rome, including the contemporary. The chain is a sort of ping-pong between the very recent and Rome’s ancient history. Thus connecting the layers that can only fully be experienced from the depths below with the outer most layers of modern day, presenting itself as only another layer on top of the many visible histories of Rome.

This sort of necklace on an urban scale is not to be misunderstood as a tourist promenade. It is more of an urban renewal strategy to add space to a city, where the old usually restrains the new. It is making the new complete and encouraging it to blossom. It spans between “Campo de Fiori” and Forum Romanum, two major tourist sights, neither one being starting or ending point, but two sights which state best the possibilities made accessible by these means. The in-between is set as a chain of neuralgic points of Rome’s past which have not seen the light of day in ages, among them the foundation walls of the theater of Pompey, Circus Flaminius and the Opera Octaviae.

The excavations at the very bottom make it possible to grasp Rome’s oldest “sights”- sometimes unexcavated monuments. The uppermost parts provide the possibility to add new apartments, offices and shopping therefore to add density Rome’s city core. The connections between these parts serve as circulation and to inherit sustainable infrastructure. Furthermore it provides a tour through history, providing impressions of every day life taking part in it. In terms of sustainability the connections between the top and the bottom of the structure provide air-conditioning using the chimney effect and the earth’s natural ability of transforming hot air to chilly airin the summer and vice versa in the winter.

“Chain of Ages” is the new piece of jewelry, a new pearlnecklace
in the treasure chest of Rome.