ROMA (IT) 2020
Team: Arch. Tom Rankin with Brian Smith
This project was produced as a workshop with University of Minnesota intern Brian Smith during the pandemic lockdown of 2020. The site next to the Colosseum has long been undervalued and often been the site for academic proposals such as the Cal Poly Rome Program design studios I directed in 2013 and 2014. This proposal takes a minimal approach of inserting a small visitors center and access point for the ruins below modern ground level. The rectangular building frames the first views of the Colosseum as one arrives from the east, and informs the public of the gladiatorial practice stadium through an exhibition space and small theatre.
