The project explores ways in which cultural heritage connected in different forms to the city’s water resources can be regenerated and reused as new urban infrastructure aimed at sustainable urban regeneration, addressing climate change and water-related issues, promoting inclusive and participatory ways of designing urban policies, reintegrating cultural and natural resources into daily life (tangible and intangible), and thus generating new relationships and spaces for participation and new forms of co-governance.
What Rome does through the project
The development of the theme by Roma Capitale focuses on the architectural and functional renovation of the Orangery of San Sisto and the consideration of the related proximity areas, located in the central archaeological area of Rome, with a view to and with the general objective of increasing its inhabitants’ awareness of this important cultural and environmental heritage, with particular attention to the water component. The Orangery of San Sisto, in fact, born in the early decades of the twentieth century as a large greenhouse for the winter shelter of the most delicate plants, today is the subject of a major renovation project, currently underway, particularly characterized in terms of energy and environmental sustainability, in which the same water cycle plays a significant role in the management of the plants housed and the building as a whole.
Within this strategy, the project for the l’Aranciera takes on the dual function of a tool for sustainable urban regeneration and the promotion of a greater sense of community, which in a large city like Rome has been lost over time.
The project goals for the San Sisto Orangery are:
- Increasing local visibility: Getting the San Sisto Orangery recognized locally, taking advantage of its strategic location between the Celio and Appio Latino neighborhoods.
- Expand public spaces: Address the local community’s need for more public spaces for social and cultural gatherings. Green areas will be accessible for outdoor activities.
- Promoting social cohesion: Creating a public space that serves as a gathering place for residents from diverse backgrounds, fostering unity and social cohesion.
- Provide educational programs: Provide educational programs and learning opportunities that enrich the lives of residents and visitors, including workshops on sustainability, heritage conservation, and botany and gardening classes for schools.
