The architects got a very inconvenient, narrow and elongated section between the large railway junction of the Tiburtina station on one side, and old residential areas on the other. In addition, almost in the center of it is the brutal water tower and the remains of the infrastructure created by the architect Angiolo Mazzoni in the late 1930s during the rebuilding of the station. Trying to meet all the challenges of a very diverse, rich and mobile environment, Alfonso Femia and Gianluca Peluffo have come up with a building that they themselves compare to the “two-faced Janus”. The complex project cost the customer 83 million euros.
First of all, there is nothing regular and permanent about it. Following the shape of the site, elongated by 235 m, the twelve-story building plate gradually changes its thickness. Closely interacting with the station, the northern end is wider and more stable. Towards the opposite, southern end, the horizontal movement is suddenly replaced by the vertical one and the end turns into a sharp blade, a sail, the edge of an iceberg or, for example, the bow of a ship.
The façade facing the station, railways and highways received a glass, angular-wavy surface that reflects the sky and the dynamic life around. As a result, not only is the volume of the building perceived completely differently from all possible points, it instantly changes depending on the weather, and lighting and repeating the elusive impression is impossible.
The façade facing the city blocks is more geometric and complex. Almost in its center is the same water tower, which unceremoniously violates the shape of the building, forcing it to "move" and even rise. Here, three-dimensional ceramic tiles are used in the decoration, resembling the texture of the scales of a snake. The entire volume is literally torn into two different parts, trying to overcome the almost 50-meter opening and grow together with uneven, rough ledges.
