House of Cultures

Sapienza University of Rome

Project idea

The House of Culture is a multifunctional building dedicated to interculturality; It's located along the southwest side of the Roma Termini station, along via Giolitti, in an urban block built only by half.
The building is a center where regular migrants resident in Italy can, on the one hand, receive a service and be assisted in their first steps in a country other than their own
; on the other, they can give service to the city of Rome through a self-managed professional and cultural offer.
Currently, the front along the Termini station is occupied by a low body, one floor, hosting a host of catering facilities. The project envisages demolition.

Project description

Rome Termini, the largest trading hub in Italy. Every day, about 480,000 people travel. Termini are for many people a place of waiting, for others a meeting point; I see it as a place lived at the same time by two parallel existence, almost never met: the Italian citizen and the immigrant.
The project consists of a building that becomes a gateway to Rome, facilitating the integration of the immigrant through training at work and allowing the encounter of different cultures.
The House of Cultures is part of the urban context by completing the isolated front Termini gallery. The building can be schematized by two parallelepipeds, parallel to them, connected by a horizontal plane that allows to have wide common spaces. The spaces are divided into three main areas: the reception area is located in the basement, it has a direct connection to the Termini metro station and includes the Hall, an internet point and an orientation center for immigrants . The public area, the pulsating heart of the building, comprises on the ground floor a hypostyle square, open on all fronts and connected to the main roads, while at the first and second level there are teaching classrooms and open spaces for laboratory activities. The administrative area is on the last floor.

Technical information

The chosen materials are reinforced concrete, glass and a micro-perforated metallic mesh used both for shielding glazed parts and as casing for external emergency stairs.