Piazza dei Cinquecento - Roma
Termini Station is an urban entity, nestled within the 19th-century fabric of the city, bustling with activities and functions along its entire perimeter. However, this complex system of relationships is currently undermined by chaotic traffic flows that encroach upon all edges, creating continuous and indistinct streams that isolate the interior of the station from its surroundings. Piazza dei Cinquecento has also been affected by this fracture, losing its significance as a public square.
The project aims to contribute to a vision of the city of tomorrow by transforming this urban node into a lived-in space. The structure of the square is divided into two distinct zones: one mineral and open, and the other more vegetal and intimate, united by the design of the pavement, conceived as an extension of the city's railway tracks and the language of Termini Station. The mineral part, facing the station, is designed to remain open, with a predominance of light materials.
The arboretum that characterizes the vegetal part reinterprets the precious fresco depicting Livia's garden preserved at Palazzo Massimo, proposing a shortcut between a domestic forest and a wild garden through the use of plants with diverse natures and geometries. The mobility project aligns with the intention to reconnect the station with the urban fabric, promoting the gradual development of light and pedestrian flows in the vicinity. This goal is achievable through the rationalization of the bus terminal's footprint on Piazza dei Cinquecento, achieved by reorganizing the lines terminating there. Additionally, all lines heading north have been redirected towards Via Marsala. This design choice helps to alleviate traffic within the square and on adjacent roads, creating a progressive "calm gradient."
