Are Subterrana (Completed while at Rhode Island School of Design)
Location: Rome, Italy
Critic: Nick De Pace
History has been veiled from the streets of Rome. The historic buildings which transcend the present street overlay have informed the construction that surrounds. The analysis of Piazza di San Martino ai Monti reveals these layers of the past. Across the plaza, a sight line from the church entry to the tower forms an implied datum.
A museum to connect what lies below and that which rises above should unveil these historic layers and datums.
The implementation of a single horizontal plane forms the architectural gesture; allowing history to push and pull along the marginal space and through the perforations formed in the new public platform. Like a carpet, the public space of the plaza is peeled up to reveal what lies below.