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Office for Usable Thinking
Piazza del Colosseo
Research 2017
Authors: Francesco Nardacci
Images: Francesco Nardacci

The concept is based on historical analysis of the of the site in history. Going back in time, the Colosseum was a valley between the Palatine Hill and the Colle Oppio until Nerone decided to build an artificial lake, better known as ‘Stagno di Nerone’. The shape was a simple rectangular which defines the design of the new Piazza. This rectangle has the long side inclined towards the south, a way to welcome the visitor coming from the Circus Maximus, also to appreciate the Arch of Constantine and highlight one of the accesses to the adjacent Fori Imperiai. The project aims to inscribe the Colosseum through a continuous open portico that manages to resolve the public space through the inhabited wall and various terraces. The project is characterized by a regular grid facade of tuff and travertine which is related with the one of the Coliseum.