A preview of the latest project by Stefano Boeri Architetti for the new access to the Domus Aurea has been unveiled: a descent among sophisticated light effects that allows visitors to directly reach the well-known Sala Ottagona, the heart of Nero’s Villa. Designed on the occasion of the exhibition dedicated to Raphael, the intervention gives the city of Rome a possibility for everyone to reach the depths of Colle Oppio, through one of the galleries of the existing Trajan baths and being able to observe some ruins that have remained closed till today.
The walk is aerial and consists of an almost dizzying descent, joining the urban ground and the ancient walking surface, along a pedestrian walkway in black steel sheet and white resin of elegant minimalism and technological lightness.
Stefano Boeri Architetti’s work – coordinated by Marco Giorgio and Anastasia Kucherova – is based on the relationship between forms, space and light. The walkway is a self-supporting structure that does not lean on ancient walls and is figured as a path that respects the space of the Domus Aurea without ever taking away the capacity of surprise, allowing all visitors to perceive the gradual approach to the Octagonal Hall. The space of the descent is marked by light, in a sequence of soft luminosity, penumbra, up to the darkness of the underground dimension, in which hi-tech materials present themselves in the presence of Nero’s ruins.
To read the entire article, consult the newspaper of Thursday 19 March 2020.