WASTELAND: DOLCE FAR NIENTE

Reimagining the architecture of the settlement

after (private) property

Rome, Italy

Critic: Pier Vittorio Aureli, Emily Abruzzo

Collaborator: Leonardo Fuchs

2019 SPING

Gardens are one of the most strategic urban elements that serve as catalysts for social and cultural activities, as well as new forms of labor. In fact, the most important resource of the Roman Agro is agriculture. To that end, Martellona is structured by a multiplicity of subdivision patterns which enable a gradient of rural activities, ranging from horticulture to agriculture, while the raising of animals takes place in the common pasture.

The phasing towards commoning starts by promoting horticulture and crop rotation based on subsistence. A collective identity is established as neighbours cooperate and negotiate during collective cultivation and harvesting. Tending, producing, cooking, eating, and sharing form a choreography which celebrates the self-sufficiency of the settlement and its ritualized relationship with the landscape.

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