Stefano Boeri creates travertine piazza alongside Colosseum

Colosseum piazza by Stefano Boeri Interiors

Italian studio Stefano Boeri Interiors has revamped a semi-circular piazza alongside the Colosseum amphitheatre in Rome, recreating the bases of several of its original columns.

Wrapped around the southern side of the Colosseum, the piazza occupies a site where the previous outer wall of the arena was located before it collapsed in a 14th-century earthquake.

Travertine piazza alongside Colosseum — Stefano Boeri Interiors has revamped the space to the south of the Colosseum

Built in AD 80 as the largest amphitheatre in the ancient world, the arena was wrapped in two arched colonnades that supported the upper seating levels.

Stefano Boeri Interiors, which is led by architects Stefano Boeri and Giorgio Donà, aimed to recall the original Roman structure through the redesign of the space.

Entrance to the Colosseum — The studio created a travertine piazza with seats in the location of the original columns

The studio returned the ground to its original level and replaced the cobbles with travertine slabs that cover the area, known as the crepidine, which was formerly within the building.

Evenly placed throughout the curved piazza are 44 raised stone benches, each 40 centimetres high, which mark the footprints of the original columns.

Roman numerals were embedded in the floor to mark the entry gate numbers that were originally engraved on the lost arches.

"The archaeological excavation campaign allowed for a new reading of the Flavian Amphitheatre's history," said Donà.

"The crepidine and the repaving of the excavation area, together with portions left exposed, restore the Colosseum's original levels and reconstruct its ancient base," Donà added.

"Through the architectural abstraction of the missing ambulatory supporting pillars, the intervention evokes the system of former access routes to the monument's interior."

Roman numeral signage at Colosseum — Roman numerals were embedded in the paving

At the western end of the piazza, the travertine pavement is broken by what the studio describes as "an archaeological window".

This lower space reveals the archaeological remains of what lies under the piazza.

An archaeological window in Rome — "An archaeological window" was left to allow visitors to view the remains

According to the studio, the piazza was designed "according to principles of reversibility" and, overall, Boeri hopes that the revamp will help visitors better understand the scale of the building.

"Designing the space in front of the Colosseum's southern facade was an extraordinary experience, carried out in close collaboration with the management and technical staff of the Archaeological Park," he said.

"Following our collaboration on the new entrance to the Domus Aurea, the redesign of the colosseum's southern piazza has finally restored the perception of the monument's original scale and pavement level, while offering the public the opportunity to approach its walls and imagine the rhythm and sequence of the ambulatory areas and arches that have been lost."

The photography is by Simona Murrone.

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