Piazza Venezia

This quadrangle shaped plaza, located at the foot of the Campidoglo hill and dominated by the majestic Palazzo Venezia and the imposing Vittoriano memorial, is considered to be the heart of Rome. Surrounded by the most unique bits of history this square has the potential to act as some vast outdoor museum-it in fact is bounded by the area of forti (roman forums), the campidiglio , and looks into the Colosseum at the palatine hill– yet now serves as one of the busiest traffic squares in the city.

Rather than being overpopulated by motorbikes, cars, and buses, which has turned it into a not pedestrian friendly space, the vastness of the square plus the dominance of the imposing surrounding buildings are what make the square not be so digestible at the human scale. Considering the fact that throughout Rome’s history, city planners have always tried to maintain both physical and symbolic connections between ancient and modern, now the design challenge is how to redefine a more pedestrian friendly urban space which encompasses both old and new within it.