After visiting Rome and spending time studying the Eternal City's vast collection of ancient buildings and spaces, I spent the first month of my senior year studio course designing a palazzo facing the Pantheon on the Piazza della Rotunda.

 

The palazzo is centered around a central courtyard. It has a restaurant on the first floor, and an academy for visiting students on the upper floors. The academy has a dining hall and oratory on the second floor, or piano nobile, a library and lecture rooms on the third and fourth, and dormitories on the fifth and sixth.

 

The design found its precedent in the fabric buildings of Rome, and is meant to be constructed of load-bearing masonry.

 

 

In addition to fulfilling the requirements of the program, the palazzo occupies an important location on the Piazza della Rotunda. With the exception of the Pantheon, the buildings fronting the Piazza are quite poor, and somewhat dilapidated, and the Piazza itself has received little organization other than the introduction of the obilisk.

 

The buildings currently occupying the site of the palazzo sharply cut the piazza into two pieces. The plan and facade of the palazzo attempt to address this. The connection between the two parts of the Piazza is emphasized by chamfering the corner and the use of elements such as fountains, figural sculpture, and greater ornamentation. The building itself is chamfered, as can be seen in the plan. The current buildings continue the line of the streetfront of the neighboring building, jutting into the space. The new plan pulls back, gently bending towards the smaller part of the Piazza. The open arcade of the building also invites greater connections between the two parts of the Piazza della Rotunda.