The courtyard typology is ubiquitous around Rome. It suits the city – negotiating between the public street edge and the semi-private, enclosed space. Although developed opportunistically, over time, the courtyards, appearing as oculli from above, conform to the city’s two-dimensional grid…
Whereas an enclosed courtyard situated on the ground floor of Palazzo creates a disconnection between the space and the city, both with its regular rectangular form within the confines of the irregular city block, and it’s screening of the outside city - this proposal celebrates the form of the city block and reveals the city and street below.
The Urban context of the site is renegotiated, two sites are made into one, traffic is pushed underground and a street is made exclusive to pedestrians. From the street, the building is an oculus for viewing the sky, but to the visitors above, a frame of the street life happening below...
Status: School Project
Location: Rome, Italy