The structure will be located next to the still far from completion, but already famous new Congress Center Massimiliano Fuksas, in the area that Mussolini began to build up as a complex of the never held World Exhibition of 1942.
The complex will consist of four buildings forming a square. The main materials will be glass and steel, although at the insistence of the "right-wing" mayor Giovanni Alemanno, the ends of the buildings will be faced with travertine - to pay tribute to the Roman tradition. In total, the ensemble will have about 300 luxury apartments. 10-storey buildings will be partially raised above the ground on supports; their lower tiers will house shops, cafes and infrastructure.
Renzo Piano, in line with his interest in "sustainable development", paid special attention to the environmental friendliness of the future structure. At first glance, glass walls in the hot Italian climate must create a lot of inconvenience, and a huge amount of energy must be spent on cooling the premises. But all transparent facades of the building will be covered with a layer of "winter gardens", which will provide thermal and sound insulation of the apartments. In hot weather, however, they will not interfere with opening the windows.
The same function is assigned to the trees of a small park, which will be set up inside the "square" of the complex. But the main "green" element of the project will be its 4th building, a vertical greenhouse that closes the ensemble on the south side. This completely transparent rectangular block with a "botanical garden" inside will protect the complex from heat and excessive sunlight, but through it, when viewed from the courtyard, an artificial lake in the EUR region will be visible: a new building will appear on its shore.
