Fall 2023

Piazza delle Cinque Scole, Rome, Italy

Teagan Polizzi and Gray Burke

“Rome as a Site: A Library of Imagination” Studio led by Jean-Francois LeJeune

Piazza delle Cinque Scole is located in the historical center of Rome at the edge of the former Jewish ghetto. The piazza is in a current state of non-use due to the area’s reconstruction around 1900. Through the intervention of a library on the northern edge of the piazza and a re-interpretation of its surrounding urban space, the project’s goal is to reactivate the piazza while maintaining a sensitivity to its history and context. The building is comprised of three main spaces: a large, open-air ground floor, a main library room with built-in shelving and furniture, and an intermediate lobby space dedicated to special collections. The ground floor is sunken into the earth with stairs which can be used as a place for seating, gathering, and performing. This covered square is imagined to be an extension of the library; it may function both during and after operational hours. On the opposite side of the piazza is an analogous sunken staircase to both block traffic and extend usable activity space. At its center is a small, solid pavilion, with views to the sky through a dome. The library is to be constructed of red brick and topped with a copper roof. Three lanterns puncture the barrel vaulted library space to bring light into the book stacks.

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