Nine days and two weekends of visits, staging and tours: until May 28, Open House opens the doors of inaccessible buildings for free and offers unprecedented visions, in search of the beauty, design and creativity of a little known rome (openhouseroma.org/program).
Endless pop quotes, as summarized by the director of the event, laura calderoni: «Every year about 20,000 people participate in Open House Rome. A simple format that makes the city a place of exchange and participation». 200 buildings and sites from any era and usually inaccessible are open to view, with 50 dedicated events and 40 free urban tours also in private spaces and houses, in artist studios, like Rolf Sachs’, and again in historic houses, like like Trilussa’s house. Searching a balance”as is the title of the review in this longer edition to ensure greater access.
Among the coffins on display the House of the Knights of Rhodesto discover the millennial history of an extraordinary architectural palimpsest, the hydraulic castle of the Trevi Fountain, and the spiral staircase of Villa Medici (one of the entrances to the Vergine aqueduct, a cylindrical well 25 meters deep, inside which there is a spiral masonry staircase that leads directly to the Roman conduit of the ancient Vergine aqueduct).
Other special visits to the Porta del Popolo (you can go up to the panoramic terrace and enjoy the privileged view over the square) and to the EUR anti-aircraft bunker, 475 m2 at 32 meters deep. Here are the splendors of Villa Maraini, currently the seat of the Swiss Institute of Rome, a Roman jewel from the early 20th century surrounded by a lush garden; from Palazzo Corrodi, renovated by Paolo Portoghesi; of the house where Trilussa lived and died, inside which was the auditorium from which the first radio announcement of the Italian Radio Union was broadcast; of the offices of Metro Goldwin Meyer and the Phone Rome.
More recent years include the Andrea Camilleri Fund, conceived by the writer himself, with the aim of protecting his cultural heritage; the general address of the Rai in viale Mazzini, the first building built entirely in steel in Rome and built by a young Francesco Berarducci, one of the most significant post-war architecture; the Italian Space Agency. On Via Gregoriana, the Hertzian Library of the Zuccari Palace, which was built on the remains of the villa of Lucio Licinio Lucullo. There is also a wide spectrum of sustainable architecture, certified and built following protocols to minimize environmental impact, such as the Church of San Luigi dei Falegnami rebuilt with Leed certification after the collapse of 2018, or the rectory of the Roma Tre University, or even the ‘building of World Food Program, designed by the Spanish architect Julio García Lafuente and the Italian Gaetano Rebecchini.
Don’t miss the tours in private houses: from the Casa del Polvo by Antonino Cardillo to the Straight-Curve House by Filippo Bombace, passing through the Casa Cimabue by Flavio Graviglia-Volume Atelier and the attic of the Città Giardino neighborhood by Francesca Giosi, to the Casa Saba by Michela Romano. Multi-sensory visits reserved for the blind and visually impaired are planned in Villa Sciarra, in the Mausoleum of the Ardeatine Pits and in the Cloister of the Cistern of the Chamber of Deputies open extraordinarily. Instead, the visits in Lis for deaf people will animate the Porta del Popolo, the Casina del Cardinal Bessarione and the Roman houses of San Paolo alla Regola, the latter in collaboration with the Capitoline Superintendence of Cultural Heritage of Capital Rome.
Performance: in the “Georgiche” of the Tiber Island thirteen ancient totem poles made of iron, plastic and cement abandoned on the Tiber Island are repainted by the artist venetian conrad, becoming a permanent installation. The studio of Rolf Sachs, a Swiss-German conceptual artist and designer, who has lived and worked in Rome since 2019, presents itself in its extreme originality: a former garage in Prati transformed into a multidisciplinary creative laboratory, part darkroom, painting, Wunderkammer of objects and experimental cooking.
Open House has around 500 volunteers both in the reception and orientation of the public and in the guided tours. It is part of the global Open House network that includes 54 cities around the world. The full program at openhouseroma.org/programma.
