Il palazzo dei destini incrociati (WITNESS JOURNAL)
Everyone is welcome here and not because help is needed, in the heart there is room for many but if you go away, you will then turn around “
Anonymous – Corviale
The new Corviale also called “Serpentone” is a building about 1 km long that rises in the Western suburbs of Rome, born in the late 70s to face the housing crisis. The complex owned by the IACP, the former autonomous public housing institute of the Municipality of Rome, in the intention of its architect Mario Fiorentino, was to be inspired by Roman aqueducts. The project included a large housing unit with five green spaces, three blocks relating to basic services (with a nursery school and basic commercial businesses), and an entrance floor equipped with artisan shops, professional offices and medical clinics. The lodgings would be divided into five units, plus a square for entry, condominium meetings and social activities. The idea was to integrate residences and services and provide spaces and contexts for extracurricular activities to the very young, with an entire floor (the IV) of services, sports centers and a theater. It was an ambitious project that wanted to arise from the mediocrity of all previous social housing attempts. The first apartments were delivered in 1982 but the project was never completed. Furthermore, Fiorentino died in the same year. The degradation, the squatting, the evictions, the petty crime, gave the Corviale a bad reputation, so much so that in recent years there has been talk of demolition. Despite everything, the Corviale is still standing and has now become one of the symbolic districts of Rome.
For years Aldo Feroce has been photographically describing who lives in the place, an example of resilience and great adaptation. They are people who have had to reorganize their lives with great difficulty, trying to reinvent it, to live it with new rules and above all relying almost exclusively on do-it-yourself. From the omnipresent gray of the concrete, authentic, colorful testimonies emerge, unexpectedly full of life, vitality and pride. Concrete cannot take away the space for dignity, humanity, which have nothing stereotyped about them. Where the shadows are only shadows, not dark thoughts.
APPROFONDISCI
Anonymous – Corviale
The new Corviale also called “Serpentone” is a building about 1 km long that rises in the Western suburbs of Rome, born in the late 70s to face the housing crisis. The complex owned by the IACP, the former autonomous public housing institute of the Municipality of Rome, in the intention of its architect Mario Fiorentino, was to be inspired by Roman aqueducts. The project included a large housing unit with five green spaces, three blocks relating to basic services (with a nursery school and basic commercial businesses), and an entrance floor equipped with artisan shops, professional offices and medical clinics. The lodgings would be divided into five units, plus a square for entry, condominium meetings and social activities. The idea was to integrate residences and services and provide spaces and contexts for extracurricular activities to the very young, with an entire floor (the IV) of services, sports centers and a theater. It was an ambitious project that wanted to arise from the mediocrity of all previous social housing attempts. The first apartments were delivered in 1982 but the project was never completed. Furthermore, Fiorentino died in the same year. The degradation, the squatting, the evictions, the petty crime, gave the Corviale a bad reputation, so much so that in recent years there has been talk of demolition. Despite everything, the Corviale is still standing and has now become one of the symbolic districts of Rome.
For years Aldo Feroce has been photographically describing who lives in the place, an example of resilience and great adaptation. They are people who have had to reorganize their lives with great difficulty, trying to reinvent it, to live it with new rules and above all relying almost exclusively on do-it-yourself. From the omnipresent gray of the concrete, authentic, colorful testimonies emerge, unexpectedly full of life, vitality and pride. Concrete cannot take away the space for dignity, humanity, which have nothing stereotyped about them. Where the shadows are only shadows, not dark thoughts.
APPROFONDISCI
