CARCERI D'INVENZIONE: Between Via Ostiense and Via Appia AnticaSpyridon Karakostas, Jo Schmiz, and Bartosz Wojcik

Through a series of tailor-made revitalization projects that engage with existing buildings and landscapes, we highlight possible synergies, continuities, and connections. Additions and corrections are limited and applied only when necessary to minimize the amount of new construction. We contest the idea of centrality as isolated, increased investment. Instead, we propose a linear and areal system of interconnected interventions in the existing built environment to amplify and activate Rome’s archipelago. The Great Collage of islands is embedded in a continuous, diverse carpet of natural and cultural landscapes—The Living Garden. The project demonstrates the necessity and feasibility of new typologies in both the built and natural environments. Mixed-use and hybrid buildings, palimpsestic green spaces, and urban agricultural models are intended to become new elements of the Roman landscape. The project affirms the diversity of Rome and its citizens. Rather than proposing grandiose visions and overscaled plans, the project focuses on identifying the potential for repair and enhancement through a series of prototypes. Serving as a testing ground for ideas that could be applied on a larger scale, the prototypes are always site-specific and custom-made. The goal is to create a framework in which endless iterations of unique projects can be developed throughout the city. The need to reduce car dependency is addressed by creating micro-centralities and implementing bus rapid transit (BRT) along Rome’s radial roads. In the next step, a new tangential mesh of secondary bus lines and soft-mobility routes will span currently disconnected areas. These routes will work together with the prospect of prolonging the metro system. We believe that improving quality of life, accessibility, and sustainability is not contradictory to economic growth, but it requires a just, inclusive, and courageous vision. Rather than being confined to a framework of revenue-driven, fast-track investment models, a new strategy that allows for reuse, adaptation, and experimentation must emerge.