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Project for the new town
hall: Campidoglio Due
/ Casa dei Cittadini (Rome, Italy)
/ 2007
The project is located in the south-east of Rome, at
Ostienze railway station, which lies between Roma
Termini railway station and Fiumicino airport. According
to the architect, the project’s goal is to ‘create a part
of the city by treating an entire neighbourhood like
one large open volume [...] rather than as the sum of a
series of isolated volumes [...] This open typology allows
offices to be assembled into clearly identifiable sub-
groupings.’ This urban design is characteristic of much
of Philippe Samyn’s recent research. With it, it is pos-
sible to integrate with a historic tradition, approaching
the urban landscape with a well-studied fragmentation
rather than cutting into the city’s new construction.
The architect’s initial sketches show a grid layout that
one might compare, at first glance, with a design from
the 1960s by Candilis, Josic and Woods for the Freie
Universität Berlin. For this project, however, it refers to
something completely different: the grid plays a regulat-
ing role for a complex that is at once airy and compact
– even ‘hollow’ – in the spirit of ancient Roman construc-
tions, with a clear and discreet classicism. The facades,
decorated with ceramics produced by the inhabitants,
are fitted out with ‘light shelves’ as is the case with
numerous buildings created by Philippe Samyn.