Termini Station is an urban organism, an integral part of the 19th-century fabric of the city, surrounded by businesses and services. This complex system of relations is today prevented by the chaotic, continuous and indistinct flows of traffic, which isolate the interior of the station from its surroundings. Piazza dei Cinquecento, which today has lost its significance as a public square, is also affected by this fracture.
The project aims to contribute to a vision of the city of tomorrow, transforming this urban node into a lived space. The square is divided structurally into two different zones: an open, paved area and a more intimate green space, connected by the design of the paving, conceived as an extension towards the city of the railway tracks and expression of Termini Station. The paved area, towards the station, is designed as a free space, with a greater presence of light-coloured materials.
The green space with the arboretum reinterprets the precious fresco depicting the garden of Livia found in Palazzo Massimo, proposing a combination of domestic forest and wild garden through the use of a variety of different types and sizes of plants.
The mobility project seeks to reconnect the station to the urban fabric, favouring the progressive development of light traffic and pedestrian flows in the areas nearby.
This is achieved by rationalising the footprint of the bus station on Piazza dei Cinquecento, implemented by reorganising the lines terminating in the square; in addition, all northbound lines have been redirected to Via Marsala. This design helps to limit flows both within the forecourt and on adjacent roads and create a progressive ‘gradient of calm’.