The Roman Campagna as a Paradigm of Contemporary Public Space

This work is part of a research programme being carried out by a team at the Roma Tre University, Dipartimento di Progettazione e Studio dell’Architettura (DIPSA), composed of Francesco Riccardo Ghio, Annalisa Metta and Luca Montuori. The theme of this specific intervention is related to the necessity of re-examining the concept of public space, beginning with the development of new forms of urbanism that cannot be linked to classical configurations of the city. The research is defined through the observation of a number of Roman case studies, involving projects for areas that, while planned, represent the extreme absence of programmed urban growth and where there is an evident necessity to reflect on the very meaning of public space in these same areas. The study begins in an observation of the continuity of this theme throughout twentieth century research, and of new disciplinary interactions between architecture, city, territory and landscape.