Torre Delle Milizie
Receiving praise from the curator of the Trajans Market Museum in Rome, Simone Pastor welcomed this project as an elegant, on budget and refined design solution.
The Torre Delle Milizie was one of multiple parts within an entire conceptual museum exhibition design centered around the layers of Rome and curiosity. The exhibit is meant to be a permanent installation which winds up the medieval tower stairs and is broken into four colored groups symbolizing ancient, medieval, renaissance, and modern architectural history within Rome. These ‘layers’ are represented in four color groups with a fifth color representing the founding of Rome.
Client
Trajans Market, Rome
Year
2024
Colored tulle sheets hang from the ceiling with the fabric height corresponding to different timelines. The tulle was specifically chosen for its lightweight and semi-transparent qualities. As with the idea of layers of Rome, the see-through tulle provides mystery and curiosity as visitors must keep ascending the stairs to view more.
Intermingled within the fabric are lightweight roots which stand for the roots of history and the region, terminating in a blossom at the top.
The exterior of the tower connects to the urban landscape and attracts users through the LED lit windows throughout the medieval tower. The LEDs are able to glow at different intensities, rates, and colors which can correspond with the current of any future exhbiits.
Backlit, glass panels are set up around the tower and connect significant architectural landmarks with the associated color palette.
Bronze outlines of the glass use a commonly found material both in the ancient and modern world to provide an additional sense of connection between the ancient and modern layers of the city. The bronze not only holds the glass in place but provides a light to the sign and an otherwise dim space.
The tower terminates with a tower expansion, specifically requested by the curator to represent the future of Rome, connecting layers and the greater urban context together.
The termination is the ‘blossoming’ of the tower and the possibilities of future architecture within Rome. The blossom is a pulsing light which can be visible from the top of the tower and entices new visitors, acting as a beacon or the beating heart of Rome.
The pillar which the light rests on is made of chrome, a modern material, which will be engraved with important Roman accomplishments mirroring the historic Trajan’s Column found only meters away.
A flowing, polished, back wall will guide visitors across the ebb and flow of time where visitors are made to think inwardly as they view their reflection. The flow will eventually lead the visitors to pedestals which will will highlight landmarks seen in the tower exhibit, as they appear from the tower view.
The unobstructed views from the tower entice visitors to contemplate the new and the old as they connect history with the current urban fabric of Rome.