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Rome - "Prati" and "Della Vittoria" districts
Prof. Massimo CASAVOLA
After 1870, among the several areas proposed for the expansion of Rome, the "Prati di Castello" area was initially discarded because of its unhealthfulness, flood risk and absence of bridges.
The 1873 City Plan had already scheduled its edification following a layout similar to the one that was to be actually built later. This layout was based on a grid originated by two main axes both centred on Piazza Risorgimento: one, linked with Piazza del Popolo, running from Via Cola di Rienzo to Ponte Regina Margherita, and the other diagonal one running from Via Crescenzio, through Piazza Cavour, to Via Vittoria Colonna. The later being also straightly connected through Via Tomacelli and Via Condotti to Piazza di Spagna and the Trinità dei Monti church. After the erection of the Tiber riverbanks had begun in 1876 and a temporary bridge aligned with via Tomacelli was built in 1878, the 1883 new city Plan determined the ultimate Prati district layout, initially trued on Piazza Cavour, where the new Hall of Justice was sited, and had its end at Piazza Risorgimento.
During the years preceding the buildings crisis of 1889, there had been a phase of intensive edification which mainly involved the areas situated among Piazza Cavour an the Tiber. Other areas around Piazza Risorgimento where involved in more popular housing installations. This phase had then reached a slowdown in the last decade of the century, regained momentum in the first years of XX century and was basically concluded around 1910.
The predominant typology of four or five storey buildings destined to middle-class users had been derived from XVII and XVIII century roman rent-houses dignified with classic repertoire elements. The Plan also scheduled an area for small villas towards the Tiber, which offered more stylistical opportunities to the eclectic architectural culture of that period.
The "Della Vittoria" district, that prosecutes the "Prati" area from behind the great military buildgin blocks between Viale Giulio Cesare and Viale delle Milizie, it is due to a later development phase, richer in terms of architecture and city-planning.
This second edification process was triggered by the 1911 International Exhibition. This to-be district, hosted ethnographic and regional exhibition pavillions and a national architecture contest. After the end of 1911 Exhibition all urbanization structures (as water supply, sewer and power fittings) and some of the architecture exhibition small villas were left on site.
"Della Vittoria" area was built as a whole after World War I, between the 20' an the 30', following the ultimate Development Plan by Joseph Stübben, and for its european urbanistic lay-down based upon the star-shaped scheme of Piazza Mazzini from which wide arcades branch off, it can be regarded as one of the best districts of Rome.
In the second half of XX century, "Della Vittoria" proved to be capable of assimilating new directorial and tertiary activities and endurance respecting new functional and transportation demands. Only some of the "villini" (situated between Viale Mazzini, Via Avezzana, Via Menotti and Lungotevere delle Armi) are still on site. Others have been demolished during the 60' and the 70' when the central location of the area gave way to the above mentioned teriarization process and substitution of parts of the edified tissue.
The issues of these changes were averagely poor and led to negative urbanistic aftermaths, not to mention the often mediocre building products. All this appeared to misrepresent the original district character so the substitution process was halted. Yet, among the new replacements, the RAI (Italian State Television) building by Berarducci and Fiorini, built between 1962 and 1964, can be marked as a good episode of modern architecture insertion.
The main market of "Della Vittoria" district, situated next to Via Sabotino and Via Monte Santo crossing, will be the planning theme of our Workshop.
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