From Hypogeum to Empyrean. Architecture of the Palimpsest and Phenomenology of Light on the Via Appia

Abstract

The project interprets the archaeological heritage of the Via Appia Antica, in the suburban area of Rome, as a dynamic cultural landscape and an active palimpsest. By intervening in the area adjacent to the hypogea of the Hunters and of Vibia, the objective is to redefine the hypogeal identity of the territory, inverting it into a spatial experience of ascension towards the light, inspired by Dante's Paradiso. The methodology combines a morpho-typological investigation of the historical fabric with the architectural translation of the spiritual journey, employing pure volumes that reject stylistic mimesis. The results materialize in a path structured in three lots: six introductory pavilions, a tower as a metaphor for the Seventh Heaven, and a swirling ramp culminating in the Empyrean. In conclusion, the contemporary insertion, engaging in a dialectical dialogue with history, generates a new phenomenology of the landscape, transforming stratified memory into a lived and identity-defining space.