Lauros Forum for Torpignattara

Project idea

Italy is a country that has undergone the impulses of new migrations. A bankruptcy policy has created a kind of fear towards the foreigner, nevertheless Italy is a culturally rich country, in which, in the various districts of the different Italian cities (especially Rome), very different ethnic realities coexist . The project aims to stimulate integration by acting on a medium-sized urban fabric to create an ethnic meeting place in a very populous district of the capital.

The idea was to create a public building that is freely usable, in Italy, as in many other European countries, take possession of public buildings has become difficult because of the bureaucracy. The Forum is proposed as a meeting point between the community of Torpignattara district, with its citizens, through the sharing, even metaphorical, of the stands of an open theater, which is usable both from the inside and from the outside.

Project description

The project is located in the Torpignattara district, in Rome. The aim was to re-elaborate a pre-existing building and make it accessible to the community, creating a pulfunctional building, whose main purpose is to "welcome" the plurality of ethnic groups present in the neighborhood. Titled Lauros Forum, the work is proposed as a new type of public building, which is inclusive and open (it was, therefore, created an open theater, whose concept is its usability even from inside the building, in a sort of inclusion of external visitors for the activities normally carried out inside). The project addresses the difficult Italian situation of hospitality, inviting the citizens of the neighborhood to get to know each other.

The forum is divided into three floors, the auditorium is on the ground floor, diversified with respect to a second area, also dedicated to services and to a "covered square", which allows free access to the building. The upper floors are also set up as a library and media library. There is also an underground museum.
In particular, the concept of the covered square was designed to bring the inhabitants of the neighborhood closer to the building, and to avoid that, as often happens in Italy, it is exploited by a minimal percentage of the neighborhood. The covered square on the ground floor, in fact, returns the building to the inhabitants of the neighboring areas.

Technical information

Structurally the building is very simple, a system of beams and pillars supports the structure. However, there are no detailed technical tables. The auditorium area has a diversified mesh to allow the auditorium itself to stand.
A detail is also the system of load bearing septa, which allows, in certain areas of the building (as in service areas) to get rid of the structural mesh.