Edilizia residenziale pubblica e conservazione: il caso del Villaggio Olimpico di Roma

The preservation of modern residential estates is a matter that intertwines architectural conservation and social issues. These districts are characterised by architectural and historical values which today deserve specific care, but also specific consideration for the social tissue which represents a resource being today a potential participant to conservation design processes. While the acknowledgement of the architectural and historical value of the- se complexes is still on its way, a more dynamic and flexible way of intending preservation issues must still be implemented. Firstly, this should not overcome the vitality and the specific social and functional targets of these lively parts of the city neither by imposing strict preservation protocols nor by binding the inhabitants to suffer top-down conditions. The above considerations lead to one overarching question: in which ways is it possible to strike a balance be- tween modern neighbourhood legitimate development processes, their cultural identity and their architectural consistency? How can residential modern heritage be duly protected without stifling the vitality inhabiting it? Changes are therefore to be accepted but ruled by intertwining data about the needs and expectations of the inhabitants with scientific investigations related to the spheres of architectural conservation and urban renewal. The output may consist in outlining a programmed set of actions, assuring on one side the conservation of crucial architectural features and, on the other, the feasibility of the works run by privates. This paper stresses the application of a scientific method to analyse and plan the intersection of architectural preservation issues with participated de- sign within the case of Rome’s Olympic Village, a district that has recently morphed from a problematic, socially degraded ghetto to one of the most coveted pieces of Modernist Rome, representing a favourable field of experimentation for similar issues in the broader context.