Progetti (Valle dell'Aniene e Via Tiburtina)

The essay retraces the history of the Aniene Valley through a sequence of architectural, infrastructural and urban projects that have shaped the relationship between Rome and its eastern territory from the late nineteenth century to the present day. At its centre stands Giuseppe Garibaldi’s ambitious 1875 proposal to transform the Aniene into a diversion canal for the Tiber, conceived not only as a hydraulic solution against flooding but also as a territorial infrastructure capable of connecting Rome with Tivoli, Subiaco and the Apennine hinterland. The river was conceived not only as an engineering system but also as a living element of an urban and productive landscape, connected to the paper mills of Tivoli and Subiaco and to early experiments in hydroelectric power that later contributed to Rome’s electrification. The project, however, was abandoned when the Italian Civil Engineering Corps chose instead to build the monumental embankments of the Tiber, sanctioned by the 1875 law. This decision forever altered the city–river relationship, turning the Tiber and the Aniene into marginalised waterways. Yet the idea of the river as a connective and generative structure persisted throughout the following century, reappearing in successive planning visions. In the 1920s, Città Giardino Aniene, designed by Gustavo Giovannoni, translated part of Garibaldi’s legacy into a modern urban form, reinterpreting the river as a healthy and natural axis for suburban expansion. What had been Garibaldi’s infrastructural vision became, in Giovannoni’s hands, an environmental one—where the river was integrated into a coherent and humane urban landscape, anticipating today’s notion of green infrastructure. In the same years, the founding of Guidonia (1934), a planned industrial and aeronautical city, reinforced the valley’s technological and productive vocation, linking the modern industrialisation of the Roman hinterland with its hydraulic and geological resources. After World War II, the Aniene Valley became a major axis of metropolitan expansion. The towers of Viale Etiopia by Mario Fiorentino and Mario Ridolfi introduced a new model of vertical density, contrasting with the low-rise garden city. Meanwhile, the neighbourhoods of Ponte Mammolo and Sacco Pastore developed through cooperative and public housing, reflecting Rome’s social transformations in the postwar years. Recognition of the valley’s ecological and historical value culminated in the creation of the Aniene Valley Natural Reserve in 1997, marking a transition from expansion to environmental protection. Today, the debate on river regeneration brings Garibaldi’s vision back into focus. The Aniene could once again become a living infrastructure for Rome—combining flood protection, sustainable mobility and ecological restoration. Within the framework of the PNRR and the European Green Deal, the valley emerges as a laboratory for urban resilience, climate adaptation and environmental design. A “new Garibaldi Project”, reinterpreted through contemporary technology and sustainability goals, could integrate hydraulic safety, environmental recovery and sustainable economic growth—drawing inspiration from European precedents such as Madrid Río, the Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project in Seoul and the Isar renaturalisation in Munich. Linear parks, pedestrian and cycling paths, micro-hydroelectric systems and cultural spaces along the river could together form a multifunctional fluvial network generating environmental and social benefits for Rome and the Lazio region. Re-reading Garibaldi’s plan through the lens of the PNRR means rediscovering the Aniene Valley as both ecological infrastructure and cultural heritage—a territory where water, memory and landscape converge. The “sacred waters” of the Aniene—from the Albule springs of Tivoli to the waterfalls of Subiaco—regain a contemporary relevance within the narrative of a sustainable city. River regeneration thus becomes more than a technical project: it is a way to reconnect memory and nature, transforming a lost nineteenth-century vision into a strategic model for twenty-first-century urban and environmental renewal.

Il saggio ripercorre la storia della valle dell’Aniene attraverso una sequenza di progetti architettonici, infrastrutturali e urbani che hanno plasmato il rapporto tra Roma e il suo territorio orientale dalla fine dell’Ottocento fino a oggi. Al centro dell’analisi si colloca l’ambizioso progetto elaborato da Giuseppe Garibaldi nel 1875 per trasformare l’Aniene in un canale scolmatore del Tevere, concepito non solo come soluzione idraulica contro le inondazioni, ma anche come infrastruttura territoriale capace di connettere Roma con Tivoli, Subiaco e l’entroterra appenninico. Il fiume veniva così interpretato non soltanto come dispositivo tecnico, ma come elemento generatore di un paesaggio urbano e produttivo, strettamente connesso alle cartiere di Tivoli e Subiaco e ai primi impianti idroelettrici che contribuirono all’elettrificazione della capitale. L’abbandono del progetto, a favore della costruzione dei muraglioni del Tevere approvata nel 1875, modificò profondamente il rapporto tra Roma e i suoi fiumi, relegando il Tevere e l’Aniene a infrastrutture marginali. Tuttavia, l’idea del fiume come struttura connettiva e generatrice continuò a riaffiorare nei principali progetti di trasformazione del territorio. La Città Giardino Aniene di Gustavo Giovannoni reinterpretò questa eredità trasformando il fiume in un asse paesaggistico e ambientale per l’espansione urbana, anticipando il concetto contemporaneo di infrastruttura verde. Successivamente, la fondazione di Guidonia consolidò la vocazione industriale e tecnologica della valle, mentre nel secondo dopoguerra i nuovi quartieri e gli interventi di densificazione urbana lungo l’Aniene accompagnarono la crescita metropolitana di Roma. L’istituzione della Riserva Naturale della Valle dell’Aniene nel 1997 segnò infine il passaggio da una logica espansiva a una prospettiva di tutela e rigenerazione ambientale. Alla luce delle strategie del PNRR e delle politiche europee per la transizione ecologica, il contributo propone una rilettura contemporanea del progetto garibaldino, individuando nella valle dell’Aniene un laboratorio privilegiato per sperimentare nuove forme di rigenerazione fluviale, resilienza climatica e sviluppo sostenibile. Un'interpretazione aggiornata del progetto potrebbe integrare sicurezza idraulica, mobilità sostenibile, recupero ambientale e valorizzazione del patrimonio culturale, restituendo al sistema fluviale dell’Aniene il ruolo di infrastruttura ecologica e territoriale strategica per il futuro di Roma e del Lazio.