The Mayor of Roma Capitale, Roberto Gualtieri, visits the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome at the Ex-Mattatoio: a strategic urban regeneration project
The Mayor of Roma Capitale, Roberto Gualtieri, visits the 40,000 square metres of indoor and outdoor areas at the Ex-Mattatoio, granted to the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome for 20 years (+ 20 renewable), thanks to a resolution by the City of Rome of 20 October, supported by the work of the Councillor for Heritage, Tobia Zevi. Thanks to this political and cultural decision, large areas of the industrial archaeology facility, the Slaughterhouse built in Testaccio in 1888-91 to a design by Gioacchino Ersoch, will be reborn to new life in the name of art and urban and social redevelopment. This will be the fulfilment of the plan to create a City of the Arts in the former slaughterhouse, a contemporary hub of civic life consisting not only of the Academy, but also of exhibition spaces of the Palaexpo Special Agency, the Faculty of Architecture of Roma Tre, the Città dell’Altra Economia and the Testaccio Popular School of Music. The construction company F.lli Navarra is already at work, implementing the project by architect Luciano Cupelloni for the restoration and refurbishment of the two former barns and the stables. In 2011, the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, with its headquarters in Via Ripetta, had already transformed two large enclosures for unruly livestock into classrooms. Now, thanks to the latest concessions from Roma Capitale, Italy’s largest public institution for artistic and cultural education will have at its disposal, in addition to the spacious rooms of the former stables (partly also transformed into exhibition spaces) and the two former barns, the monumental entrance gate, as well as the Panottico, a valuable octagonal building, once a control centre, but in the future a centre for research and information on the history and current affairs of the Ex-Mattatoio/City of the Arts. Substantial investments for academic venues that contribute to urban redevelopment projects are planned by the Ministry of University and Research, headed by Anna Maria Bernini.
“The granting to the Academy of Fine Arts of important spaces in the former Testaccio Slaughterhouse for higher artistic and cultural education activities is a fundamental part of the project that will see the creation of a true ‘City of the Arts’ in this historic place for Rome, where creativity, innovation, art and culture will intertwine in the name of participation and inclusion. Step by step, with great teamwork, we are returning these places to the city with a major urban regeneration project, one of the largest restoration projects currently underway in the capital, to create a Centre for the Arts and Culture open to everyone. I therefore thank the key players in this process that contributes to the rebirth of the district and the entire city and that makes Rome even more attractive for students from Italy and around the world” said the Mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri.
“With the concession to the Academy of Fine Arts, we wanted to contribute to the creation of an important cultural and artistic centre at the Ex Mattatoio in Testaccio. The Academy has embraced our ambition with a major and innovative redevelopment project that respects the history of this place. Public Heritage is an extraordinary opportunity for transformation, and I am sure that our goal of reviving this place, as soon as the works are completed, will be achieved” said the Councillor for Heritage of Roma Capitale, Tobia Zevi. Prof. Cecilia Casorati, Director of the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, says: “We are finally in the final stages of a long process of redevelopment and transformation of the Ex-Mattatoio, in which the Academy of Fine Arts has played and continues to play an important role. I believe that education is a powerful tool for transformation and renewal, because it combines awareness and knowledge. Rather than a City of the Arts, I think – to paraphrase Plato – of this place as a Republic of the Arts, a model of community governed by knowledge, research and creative sensibility. In this sense, the Panopticon can become the emblem of the Ex-Mattatoio, the centre that brings together the spirit of the present and the memory of this place where people worked for decades to provide nourishment. This is precisely the transformation: nourishment changes and becomes food for the mind and an investment for a better future.”.
According to the President of the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, the architect Giuseppe Carmine Soriero, “The acquisition of new spaces for the Academy is the happy result of inter-institutional cooperation between the Academy, the Municipality of Rome, the 1st Municipality and the Ministry of University and Research. This choice, for which we are grateful to the Mayor and the Rome City Council, helps the capital city of Rome and the Academy to jointly enhance not only the precious cultural treasures, but also the excellent artistic production of many young people who place their hopes for their future in academic training.”