Hi all! I’d like to move your attention on Rome, from the old and the new Pope event, into an architectonic-urban problem (even if we r still talking about several people!): the topic of my last exam: CORVIALE. Do you know Corviale? Corviale is the failure of utopic dreams of an architects generation, designed by the roman architect, Mario Fiorentino. From the desire of the megastructures, starting from the Plan Obus of Le Courbousier for Algeri, trough the Karl-Marx-Hof untill the future cities of the Archigram with Plug-in-City and Walking City and so on ... till the need of residences due cos of the fast expansion for the economic boom in the Italian capital, that was expressed till then with the chaos of the dispersion of illicit buildings in the suburbs. That’s why Corviale was made. 1km of dam to contain the uncontrolled expansion of the city, with its nine floors designed for 1202 apartments of several sizes, plus others illegal in the plan that was dedicated to the services, for approximately 7000 people. The biggest part of 60 hectares available, was left for the green, in fact the residences are concentrated in a huge block and the general services (schools, supermarket, library, multiservice center, gymnasium...) in a little part in front of it. I think the problem that has caused the sickness of living of inhabitants, first of all is managerial, but the guilt of architecture is that Fiorentino wasn’t thinking about socialization spaces among inhabitants with different cultures and from different counties. During the 30th anniversary from the beginning of the construction, the debate was divided between someone who wants to destroy it (like it happened for Pruitt-Igoe Housing by Minouru Yamasaki in St Luis), and someone who wants to reconvert it into other functions or requalify it (I agree whit the last two thoughts). I’m sure that around the world Corviale is not the only exemplary, and I’m asking u if u know some other (good or bad working) examples or know how u would approach on this case.

More information are available in my prof.’s website, drawing, texts, photo... (but only in italian sorry) w3.uniroma1.it

or something in thisone: www.osservatorionomade.net

or try to download my heavy 10 min movie when I’m connected in winMX or just ask and I’ll give u the names of some European reviews that have been dedicated to the concrete roman dinosaur.

Cheers

Paolo_Roma