The architecture studio Alvisi Kirimoto together with Studio Gemma have designed a new center for the LUISS Guido Carli university complex, near Villa Ada, in the heart of the Parioli neighborhood of Rome, Italy. The project is developed on an existing warehouse, demolished to build the new educational center.

The project completes the university spaces and enhances the surrounding green areas of the place, with the location of the new center being the most accessible point and with the greatest landscape value of the complex, near a grove located to the south of the lot, the last branch of the park and the main square of the campus.
The dome, designed by Alvisi Kirimoto and Studio Gemma, is a two-story building dedicated to university educational use. Its shape comes from the idea of getting closer to the treetops, which is why the architects decided to free up the ground floor as much as possible, raising the upper volume with a large overhang, recalling the classic tree house.

The entrance, a classroom and services are located on the ground floor, while the upper floor houses an amphitheater and two classrooms. The interior design project was produced with severe care taking into account the versatility that the spaces must have to be able to host educational activities and cultural, artistic and social events.

The colors, textures and materials of the project were chosen with the same sensitivity, with a play of references and contrasts between the metallic coatings, the striped plaster, the nuances of the wood, and the red tones of different elements.


The Dome by Alvisi Kirimoto and Studio Gemma. Photograph by Marco Cappelletti.
 

Project description by Alvisi Kirimoto and Studio Gemma

Near Villa Ada, in the heart of Rome's Parioli neighborhood, Alvisi Kirimoto has designed with Studio Gemma a new center surrounded by greenery for the LUISS Guido Carli University complex. The intervention, which completes the university spaces and enhances the surrounding green areas, consists of the demolition of an existing warehouse, subject to landscape restrictions, and the construction from scratch and the expansion of an educational building.

The building, which is distributed on two levels, for a total area of 1,500 square meters, is located at the most accessible point and with the greatest landscape value of the complex, near a grove located to the south of the lot, the last branch of the park and the main square of the campus.

The project was born from the idea of raising the volume to put it in direct connection with the treetops, freeing up the ground floor as much as possible. The latter houses the entrance, a classroom, and services, while the upper floor houses an amphitheater and two classrooms.


The Dome by Alvisi Kirimoto and Studio Gemma. Photograph by Marco Cappelletti.

Immersed in the greenery and with its permeable and transparent skin, the building seems to dissolve into the landscape, recalling the classic tree house, from which it takes not only the profile but also the cozy and almost "domestic" dimension of the spaces, designed to the size of the student.

The interiors have been carefully designed to guarantee great versatility and host various educational activities and cultural, artistic, and social events, from conferences to face-to-face classes, from gala evenings to the cinema. The amphitheater, designed for multiple uses, and the classrooms, designed to redefine the balance between face-to-face teaching and distance education, are equipped with extremely sophisticated audio-video conferencing systems and perfectly integrated into the architecture.

A staircase with crossed ramps internally connects the two levels through a double-height space, while a third staircase connects the first floor with the exterior.


The Dome by Alvisi Kirimoto and Studio Gemma. Photograph by Marco Cappelletti.

The ground floor, visibly set back, further highlights the lightness of the upper volume and creates an open and covered space at the same time, conditioned for courses and outdoor activities.

Covered with slats of natural wood and glass, the upper floor projects the building between the treetops, creating a privileged dialogue between architecture and context and offering a dynamic vision of the activities that take place inside.

«The inextricable link between the structure and the surrounding greenery suggests an innovative educational approach that, to encourage learning, focuses on the well-being generated by the relationship with nature. The high permeability that characterizes the skin of the building not only facilitates integration into the landscape and opportunities for exchange with the entire student community but is also a conceptual choice that refers to the openness of the campus.

Massimo Alvisi, co-founder of the studio.


The Dome by Alvisi Kirimoto and Studio Gemma. Photograph by Marco Cappelletti.

The colors, textures, and materials of the project were chosen with the same sensitivity: the tones of the metal coating and the striped plaster mix with the warm nuances of the wood, in a balanced game of references and contrasts. Inspired by sustainable design principles and made with natural materials, the building has earned the prestigious LEED Platinum Certification.

The suspended acoustic panels that define the false ceiling of the amphitheater, in coral red, capture attention from the outside, while their organic silhouette enhances the dialogue with the adjacent grove. The same bright red characterizes the furniture and some elements of the classrooms, a refined detail that gives the entire complex a great visual coherence, especially when the volume is turned on in the early afternoon.


The Dome by Alvisi Kirimoto and Studio Gemma. Photograph by Marco Cappelletti.

The outdoor spaces have been redesigned with stabilized gravel paving, while a covered path, protected in the shade of a row of oak trees, connects the wooded area with the plaza. All outdoor areas have been equipped and organized to encourage study, informal meetings, relaxation, and play, offering infinite aggregation possibilities and great flexibility of use.

Similar to an enormous telescope that rises above the vegetation and surveys the plaza below, the project designed by Alvisi Kirimoto becomes the new heart of life on the university campus.

More information

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Architects
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Alvisi Kirimoto and Studio Gemma. Massimo Alvisi, Junko Kirimoto (Alvisi Kirimoto). Cristiano Gemma (Studio Gemma). 
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Project team
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Alvisi Kirimoto.- Vasiliki Maltezaki, Chiara Quadraccia, Daniel
Costa Garriga.
Studio Gemma.- Alessandro Speranza, Federica Vola.
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Collaborators
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Strucutres.- INGE.CO srl.
Installations.- Planex srl.
LEED Certification.- Habitec Distretto Tecnologico Trentino Scarl.
Acoustic.- Engineer Andreas Hoischen.     
Cost management.- Engineer Gianluca Gangemi.
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Client
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Luiss Libera Guido Carli International University of Social Studies.
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Contractor
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ECOFAST Sistema srl.
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Area
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GFA.- 1,500 sqm (buildings).
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Dates
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Commissioned.- 2019.
Start of Construction.- 2020.
Completion.- 2022.
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Location
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Viale Romania, 32 Rome, Italy.
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Budget
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€5,116,845.
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Manufacturers
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Lightning.- iGuzzini.
Seats.- LAMM.
External wood cladding.- Kebony.
Façade cladding.- Ponzio Bond.
Stained glass.- Romana Ponzio Windstop.
Packable walls.- Oddicini.
Interior flooring: Tarkett.
Internal curtains.- Serge Ferrari.
Sound absorbing panels.- Acustico.
Sound System.- Bose.
Elevator.- Schindler.
Bathrooms tiling.- Marazzi.
External flooring in stabilized gravel.- Pietranet.
External deck flooring.- Déco Ultrashield.
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Photography
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Alvisi Kirimoto + Partners, after 10 years of working in collaboration with architects like Renzo Piano, Massimiliano Fuksas and Oscar Niemeyer, Massimo Alvisi and Junko Kirimoto founded the architecture office Alvisi Kirimoto + Partners in 2002. A few years afterwards they established an engineering partnership with Alessandra Spiezia and Arabella Rocca in 2008.

The main finished projects by Alvisi Kirimoto + Partners are: Molino Casillo Headquarters in Puglia, Italy; a complex of small and medium factories in Barletta (Bari), Italy; the Naples Fine Arts Academy Theater, Italy; a hotel in Dalmine (Bergamo), Italy; a residential building in Trani (Bari), Italy; the temporary pavilions for the Rome Cinema Fest, Italy; the new Japanese restaurant Hamasei in Rome, Italy; the Davide Cenci’s stores in Rome and in Milan, Italy; the TIM shop Il telefonino in Genova and the TIM showroom in Rome, Italy.

The office has collected several awards in the past few years: first prize for “Meno è più 4” competition for a nursery and civic centre in Rome; second prize for “Piccole Stazioni Ferroviarie” competition; second prize for “Madrid 2016 – kayak site” competition for Madrid Olympic nomination; first prize for the “Corato Theatre restoration” competition, a building which was recently opened to the public. Among various prizes, the AIT Award 2012 for the Naples Art Academy Theater, selected in the category: public building interiors.

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Studio Gemma Design is an architecture studio founded by architects Giancarlo and Cristiano Gemma in 2002. They created the associated studio with the aim of combining engineering and architectural approaches in a complete and high-quality professional offer.

Since then the studio has been in charge of design, construction management, security, consulting and real estate promotion, maintaining its initial intention.

The approach is based on the search for the right balance between functionality and design: this is why we can propose efficient solutions that constitute the true added value of any real estate investment.
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