DEFINE THE NEW
This project is separated into part one and two. The first part of this project is to design an urban landscape in Largo Argentina, to bring people down into the archaeological level. This site is located in one of the larger entertainment areas (Theater Pompei and Theater Balbus) in the ancient times. However, the separation of the city, people, and history created deconstructive fragment in an urban scale. Therefore, with various pathways we are bringing the people down to a park and a museum in the porticos. This theatrical aspect of the history was also brought into the design as a new form. People are not only watching performances but also part of the performances. Now this public space is where people are in a dialogue with the city and history.
The design strategy
for this project is taking the curves from the theaters in the ancient times and transforming them into these curved ramps that lead us down to the archaeological site. Then these tubes are used in both Largo Argentina and Crypta Balbi.
Design Elements
For Design elements we took four entrance points and looked at what is important to have. The landscape and use of the city has given us that most people coming from Trastevere would go come from the south side of the plan on the left. Therefore, a path directly cutting through Largo Argentina allows for convenience while also allowing people to locate themselves in the center and look down or around. Then the two other points paths bring people down to give people first hand experience with the remaining. Finally, the Medieval tower connecting with the Museum cafe, acts as a stair core to bring people down as well. This design gives a sense of hierarchy and create a wholesome dynamic and circulation.
This circulation diagram shows how this building works. The orange tube is the core of the building. Bathrooms, elevators, and stairs are all located there. Then on each floors there are different programs that you can see below. Then there is a bridge connecting from the third and fourth floor to Crypta Balbi 1 with a stair leading downstairs to the exhibition space.
Part two of this project is to design a second museum for Crypta Balbi. Similar to the first part, I took the map and looked at the surrounding of the site. It was noticed that our site is not far from Piazza Venezia and beside it are two major transportation hubs. Therefore, I create a corner solution along the point in orange.
Initial Idea Sketches
In this project, the main focus was to open up the archaeological level to the public. Therefore, part of the building is suspended allowing more light into the underground level. Here, there are two entrances. One directly into the museum or two taking a ramp down to the archaeological level.
The connection between parts one and two is the museum and the curved ramp designed to bring people down to the archaeology level and to allow people to engage with the remaining.
