La Sapienza University Library, Roma

The design of the open spaces of the New Humanities Library of the Sapienza University of Rome aims to create an experiential path of knowledge and recollection, where landscape and architecture work together to shape places rich in meaning. This intervention is divided into four areas: the entrance gardens, the lowered courtyard, the interior terraces and the rooftop.

The most revealing experience is crossing the entrance and entering the courtyard. The space, organised in a crescendo of intimacy and concentration, marks the threshold to the institutional representation of the library as a sacred place of knowledge. The entrance gardens reinterpret the formal and material Roman tradition in a contemporary key, with travertine paving and concrete paths inviting people to cross. The area is further enriched by exemplary trees and integrated seating in the stairways leading to the lowered courtyard.

Here, one arrives at an environment of greater recollection, a space dedicated to open-air reading and contemplative intimacy. Dense vegetation and a wall of water create an atmosphere of calm and well-being that invites concentration. In the centre of the courtyard, a pool of water lilies recalls well-known figures from the history of Rome and traditional Roman villas. The plant associations, composed to seek an effect of spontaneity, recall the way vegetation settles on the ruins of past splendours.

The building is conceived as a set of circles alternating wisdom and well-being. This image is especially represented by the interior terraces, which, arranged on three levels, are designed to encourage socialisation and knowledge sharing. The internal terraces develop in a funnel shape and decumbent vegetation falls from the parapets, reaching from the floor above to the floor below. Finally, the rooftop offers a stunning panoramic view over the city of Rome. It is conceived as a suspended garden, with green islands and sculptural furnishings that encourage the feeling of being enveloped in nature, far from urban congestion.