Roma Continua: Gazometri Rehuse

The project explores the adaptive reuse of the Gazometri in Ostiense, transforming one of Rome’s distinctive industrial structures into a new piece of civic architecture. Rather than treating the existing frame as an obsolete artifact, the proposal preserves its industrial character while introducing new programs and public spaces that reconnect it with the surrounding neighborhood.

New architecture inhabits, crosses, and activates the existing structure without compromising its identity. The project establishes a dialogue between industrial heritage and contemporary urban life, giving infrastructure from another era a renewed civic purpose.

Roma Continua proposes the adaptive reuse of Ostiense’s industrial heritage as the foundation for a new mixed-use urban community. Rather than preserving the Gazometri as isolated monuments, the project integrates housing, commerce, public spaces, workshops, cultural activities, and productive spaces into a largely self-sustaining system that reconnects the structures with everyday neighborhood life.

Social reintegration is central to the proposal. Housing and dedicated workshops provide opportunities for immigrants and people experiencing homelessness to live, work, learn, and develop artisanal skills, supporting greater participation in the life of the city. The Gazometri thus become more than monuments to Rome’s industrial past: they become infrastructure for a new collective and productive life.

The master plan was developed collaboratively, while each building was designed individually as part of the larger urban framework.

The project understands sustainability as more than environmental performance. Through adaptive reuse, shared resources, mixed-use development, and productive activities, it brings living, working, learning, and exchange into a connected urban system. At its center, the Gazometri becomes part of a circular social and productive ecosystem where housing provides stability, workshops support learning and production, and public spaces bring different communities together.

Roma Continua approaches sustainability through four interconnected dimensions: industrial heritage through adaptive reuse; urban vitality through mixed uses; environmental and economic resilience through self-sufficiency; and social sustainability through integration and opportunity. Sustainability, in this sense, is not only about preserving resources, but creating the conditions for people, buildings, and communities to evolve together.