ROME

CO-MASSIMO CONNECTS

2021 / 2022

EMPTY FOOTPRINT - FULL OF HISTORY

The ‘circus Maximus’, located in the east bank of the Tevere, in the ‘Rione’ Ripa, used to be the largest ancient amphitheater in Rome. Nowadays it faces a crucial crossing point between via Appia, via Ostense and in direct connection to the axis leading towards the Colosseum. Throughout the centuries the circus Maximus has consistently been a vibrant meeting place for the people of Rome and a point of aggregation and cohesion in society. During the races and gladiator fights, all the people - rich or poor, old or young, Patritius or Plebeus - would gather here to enjoy some entertainment, and would be equal for an hour.

The Circus Maximus and its location, may now have lost most of its original “glory”… Yet, this site - now an open grass field with some ruins - has never lost its spirit and its attraction-force for the people of Rome. After its original entertainment-function, this location has seen a different variety of public uses: it has once been a collective farming area, and it is currently in use as an open park with archeological value, where large concerts are hosted and where young people meet.

The “Co-Massimo” is a co-housing project which revitalises this ‘void’, a giant footprint in the city, and re-uses it to connect people, once more, re-interpreting its identity as a place of gathering and social cohesion.

RIONE- BORGATA-CONTRADA

The Co-Massimo is a cohousing project which is anchored in 4 levels of urban scale:

the Rione (a district within the city of in Rome)
The Borgata (a smaller neighborhood within the Rione)
the Contrada (a smaller part of the neighbourhood, usually a group of houses, connected around shared functions or activities). In Siena, the different Contrada’s were united around a shared horse and would compete against one another. The Borgata Co-Massimo is divided into 18 Contrada’s (co-housing). Contrada is a group of people who live in a co-housing, and are united around their shared spaces and facilities.
The Unit is a single private dwelling within a Contrada.

Four levels of sharing:

RIONE: sharing activities: concert, workspaces, cinema, bar, restaurant, kindergarden, horse riding, climbing wall
BORGATA: sharing functions/activities: mobility center, medical center, park, vegetable/fruit garden, swimming pool, multifunctional spaces, sportarea, daycare, animal hotel
CONTRADA: sharing functions: common living, guest room, bicycle storage, laundry, library
UNIT: sharing flexibility, diversity

The concept is adaptable and flexible to different locations, with the focus on the diversity of people in affordable housing. Collective spaces are the vibrant elements to connect the building and the people, these spaces unite the individual people.