UNDER ONE ROOF
The new San Giovanni di Dio market will take the form of a large cover, a roof that, in addition to covering and defining the space of the new market square, will become a symbol for the neighborhood and for Rome. The project aims to create an innovative and easily recognizable building, impressive in its height but evanescent in its materiality.
The use of transparent, lightweight, and unexpected materials will enhance the aesthetic value of the structure, giving it a specificity that will make it stand out in the contemporary architectural landscape of Rome.
AN OPEN AND PERMEABLE SYSTEM
The project, open on all four sides, is structured on a square grid composed of a module of 8.5x8.5 meters that engages with the urban fabric of the neighborhood. Although the market occupies almost the entire surface of the square, on three sides, the facades are set back from the buildable limit of the plot to allow the public space to extend under the large cover. Access is guaranteed from both the long side of Circonvallazione Gianicolense and the short sides of Via F. Ozanam and Via G. Ghislieri.
In addition to ensuring the continuity of the surrounding public spaces, a new type of square will be introduced in the market grid, a protected square but visible from the outside and positioned as an extension of Via F. Palasciano, a local urban axis. This traversing space will connect the side of Circonvallazione Gianicolense with the opposite side where 84 parking spaces are located at the same level as the market, avoiding intervention in the underground space.
The entrance system is designed to ensure maximum flexibility in the future uses of the building. During market opening hours, entrances can occur from all sides. Although the main entrance is located in the central square, each aisle between the various stalls also serves as an entrance, totaling 25 access points that promote permeability and usability without a clear distinction between exterior and interior.
In the case of evening events or on market closure days, secondary entrances located at the aisles can be closed, while the main ones will remain open in the central square, where extra-market events can be organized, ensuring greater control of access.
Within this open and permeable system, greenery also plays a decisive role, as nature invades the market interior with trees, plants, and suspended gardens.
EVANESCENT LIMITS
As with the entrance system, the project's materials are designed to blur the boundaries between interior and exterior. In addition to the regular and airy rhythm set by the slender columns, the market space materializes through an almost immaterial facade, a light metal mesh arranged over the entire height of the volume and completely open at the bottom. Finally, the roof, the main element of the project, reinterprets the structural mesh in a pattern of squares and linear slats, covered by a transparent membrane, allowing daylight to penetrate the market while avoiding overheating.
The interiors are characterized by shades of white to accentuate the natural light filtering from the roof and facade, providing a backdrop for the colors of the displayed goods and the people using this space. Natural lighting makes the interior space resemble an outdoor market in a neighborhood square, thus restoring an important meeting point for residents and, above all, a place for social exchange and integration.
A CONVERTIBLE BUILDING
Flexibility and adaptability are inherent in the project. The regular column grid, besides ensuring a barrier-free and reconfigurable space, would allow for an integrated distribution system of electrical and water installations within the architectural element of the column. Each column, being connected to the box modules, would precisely irrigate each stall.
The 16 m² boxes are grouped into prefabricated modules of 3, while the 10 m² ones into modules of 2. Their construction system will be designed to make them easily dismantlable and reassemblable if it is necessary to reconfigure the space.
SUSPENDED GARDENS
The great ceiling height offers the opportunity to create suspended spaces within the market volume. A series of platforms overlook the large market area to accommodate multifunctional spaces, potentially hosting food-themed social events (tastings, training, etc.) and providing the opportunity to consume on-site food products in a more sheltered environment than the bustling central square.
Above 3 of the 4 volumes containing the storage areas and on one of the suspended platforms, there will be spaces for greenhouse cultivation, urban gardens capable of producing on-site food products that will then be sold at the market, neutralizing distances and logistics and entering a circular economic logic: production, consumption, and waste management for the reuse of raw and secondary materials in a single site. Some of these areas could be reserved for neighborhood residents interested in creating personal urban gardens.
PHASES AND TIMELINE
The execution technique will favor dry solutions for the assembly of prefabricated pieces. This type of technique, in addition to reducing error margins in project estimates, ensures economic savings both during construction and subsequently in building maintenance.
An additional advantage of this technique concerns the reduced duration of the construction site, an important aspect to consider in limiting the temporary relocation of the market and thus breaking the immaterial bond with the people who rely on this essential public service.
SUSTAINABILITY AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY
The roof integrates various functions into a delicate architectural element. In fact, in addition to offering natural lighting and reducing energy costs, it can accommodate significant surfaces of photovoltaic panels and protect the building from overheating thanks to sunshades integrated into the structural mesh. These elements reflect unwanted direct radiation, allowing diffused light to penetrate the building. The translucent covering membrane has a low emissivity coating to reduce long-wave radiation and, consequently, building overheating.
Moreover, the dry construction system is eco-friendly, as disassemblable elements can be recycled, reused, and disposed of.