CASE STUDY
Hotel Romeo Roma
- ZAHA HADID ARCHITECTS -
The classical interpretation of Rome as a palimpsest of architectural layers — Baroque buildings atop Renaissance and medieval structures , themselves atop their Roman predecessors — includes a final layer of verticality : ceilings of painted trompe l ’ oeil arches , heavenly vaults , and celestial chambers populated with ascendant saints , martyrs , and putti . From the very beginning of her career , Zaha Hadid sited her buildings in the air , floating buildings on shadow , light , and seams of space that lifted volumes above the ground , relating her work to another tradition — Rome ’ s . Hadid , and the city ’ s architects of the Renaissance and Baroque that preceded her , aspired to the air , the skies , and the heavens . In designing the hotel conversion of the Palazzo Capponi , on the Via di Ripetta , a branch of the city ’ s Sistine Trident radiating from the Piazza del Popolo , Hadid and her team at Zaha Hadid Architects ( ZHA ) led by Paola Cattarin , started where Baroque architects ended their palimpsest — at the vaulted ceilings .
As Cattarin notes , Rome ’ s architectural history can be read in its masonry vaults , from the Roman , through the Renaissance and Baroque periods , into the 18th Century : “ We took inspiration from this idea , to make a new interpretation of vaults and their intersections . All the different rooms , down to the furniture , are designed with this concept .” Searching for a property in Rome for a new hotel , Alfredo Romeo , founder of Romeo Hotels , came upon the historic Palazzo Capponi . “ Rome is one of the most beautiful cities in the world ,” he explains , “ and Piazza del Popolo was the salotto of Rome in the 1950s and ‘ 60s . Federico Fellini and Marcello Mastroianni regularly met at the Bar Rosati on Piazza del Popolo . It ’ s a mythical piazza , and by night especially , it has a magical appeal .” Romeo purchased the palazzo in 2012 with an existing tenant : the Italian government ’ s Istituto Nazionale Assistenza Infortuni sul Lavoro ( INAIL )— National Institute for Assistance of Accidents at Work — had occupied the building since 1951 . While the core of the building dates from the 16th century , it also includes components from completely different historical periods . Most recently , two wings were added by the INAIL administration in the 1950s . In the absence of laws , at the time , to protect historic architecture , INAIL remodeled much of the palazzo ’ s remaining interiors in its conversion to administrative offices , making significant changes to the palazzo and its art . A series of Palazzo Capponi ’ s 17th-century frescoes were also
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