Ex Filanda represents an opportunity to re-purpose a central setting, overlooking the monumental structure of the Aurelian Walls, between the Basilica of San Giovanni in Laterano and the Basilica of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, which is densely populated and at the centre of a profound change in identity, given by the recent arrival of the Metro line C and corresponding station.

The Ex Filanda redevelopment project seeks to amplify these ongoing urban dynamics. In particular, the project supports the revitalisation of Viale Castrense by introducing collective functions and activities open to the public – co-working, event spaces, co-living, food – that generate new urban and social dynamics.

The project considers the land according to its capacity as an activator of virtuous urban cycles, such as when reserved for urban agriculture, which could facilitate a series of co-benefits: the production of food within the city, the reduction of the heat island effect, rainwater runoff, energy savings from the reduction of the consequent movement.

The idea of maintaining – through restoration – the walls of the pre-existing building as fragments of historical identity, in which to insert a new building proportionate to the existing one, highlights the intention of allowing past and present to coexist within the same project.

The result is a hybrid space, not only in terms of time, which is porous and permeable, in which the old meets the contemporary, and the private is integrated with the public, which together with the proposed programme to create co-living, co-working and event spaces, will foster the establishment of a small, local community, revealing new collective approaches.