The roof of Stazione Termini in Rome hosts an impressive amount of technical installations in order to be able to function as the main station of the city. A platform/bridge spans from one side to the other in order to accomodate this heavy machinery and unload its weight to the load bearing walls. This strictly infrastructural platform created by chance a leftover area with an astonishing view on the city. The will of having a rooftop terrace there was just a natural consequence.
The project consists in a steel structure that follows the rhythm of the beams of the platform underneath. In this way the two structures work together as a single system increasing the overall stiffness. Shading sails are anchored to the new structure providing sun protection and a metal screen is defining the boundary of the terrace while protecting it from wind and the noise of the machines. All the new elements introduced on place are the bare minimum to make the space enjoyable without altering its true nature. The spirit of the place consists in the contrast between “the form of being” and the “form of doing”. Considering the metaphysical arches of the station and the majestic view of Rome “the form of being” and the machinery landscape and the rails “the form of doing”, then something beautiful happens when this contrast fades into a symbiosis.