Sustainable design takes center stage in NABAxROAD, the new urban regeneration project created by NABA Design Area students in collaboration with ENI for the ROAD Rome Advanced District and its focal point: the outdoor spaces of the Gazometro Ostiense in Rome.
Through an exciting journey and workshops led by NABA faculty members on crucial topics related to ENI, such as the urban regeneration and the environmental sustainability, NABA’s young designers were challenged to create furniture and mobile installations to enhance the potential of the ROAD Rome Advanced District and its headquarters, the Gazometro, located in the Ostiense district of Rome. Their goal was to imagine innovative solutions for the city.
From industrial heritage to the future: the Gazometro Ostiense in NABA students' projects for ENI
Numerous creative ideas and proposals were developed by the students in response to ENI’s request, embracing the challenge of transforming an iconic symbol of Rome’s industrial past, the Gazometro in the Ostiense district, into a symbolic and sustainable bridge to the future, blending design, innovation, and sustainability.
Following the presentation of ENI’s brief in June at NABA Campus in Rome, from September 11 to 13, 2024, a group of 12 NABA Design Area students, led by Claudio Larcher, NABA Design Area Leader, and Germana De Michelis, Course Leader of the Bachelor in Design, participated in a creative workshop within the Gazometro Ostiense, designing innovative and sustainable solutions and installations to enhance its outdoor spaces.
While working within the urban environment, the students explored the social functions of public spaces, focusing on expanding accessibility and usability to create new opportunities for interaction and community building. Their designs aimed to tell the story of the district while also projecting it into the future.
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The social function of the most innovative and sustainable design
Urban spaces, inhabited by the community, can become interactive places through intelligent design and its social responsibility, where design serves as a medium for cohabitation and dialogue. This was the vision behind the NABA students' projects for ENI and ROAD: to enhance existing functions of the intervention area while creating new ones, transforming a monument of the industrial past into a metaphor for urban regeneration. By combining innovation and social growth, these projects revitalise public spaces and redefine the relationship between individuals and their environment.
“Effetto Gazometro,” the winning project for ROAD Rome Advanced District in Rome
Among all the proposals submitted, the winning project was announced on November 7 at NABA’s Milan Campus: “Effetto Gazometro” (Gazometro Effect).
Designed by Federico Giuberti and Arcangelo Pettinati, this project features a series of modular installations replicating the Gazometro Ostiense in miniature, serving as social gathering spaces for the ROAD Rome Advanced District. An innovative concept combining creativity and functionality, innovation and sustainability, design and social impact, turning the district’s core into an engaging and inclusive space for the community.
