With the highest percentage of homeowners in Italy, and vast number of misused or illegal buildings, the notion of unaffordable and insular housing is unique to this city. While the Palazzina finds itself as the dominant form of Roman urbanization in a post-war Italy - as a mono-functional, closed and detached block, there have been several radical social housing schemes in Corviale, Testaccio, and Garbatella which have challenged this typology. While these were often neglected and located within suburban sites, each presents Roman lessons essential to the creation of a much needed collective affordable housing typology. This project challenges the current ‘Isolato’ housing condition – Italian for urban block and isolated.

 

The ‘Anti-Isolato’ rejects the creation of large scale social housing projects within marginalized sites, and proposes a series of centralized ‘Anti-Isolati’ [Anti-Isolated Blocks] - as new affordable, collective centralities conceived in the manner of an inverted and open typology.

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