In the historical city centre of Rome, the palace of the former
Military Union has preserved its austere image despite being
transformed into a megastore designed by Massimiliano
and Doriana Fuksas. The conservative restoration of the
twentieth-century façades adopted the EBE 65 system to
interpret and faithfully reproduce all the openings. In the main
façade, between the mock-classical style heavy columns and
trabeations , the painted galvanised steel profiles reconstruct
the extensive glass surfaces, preserving the image whilst
adapting the performance. With an interplay of references
between the exterior and interior, natural light and artificial
light, thanks to the glass surfaces the project thus reveals
the glittering arrangement of the interior of the commercial
centre and its role in the urban landscape where it has added
a new element: a lantern in the shape of a solid polyhedral
with a complex outline – made of steel and glass – which rises
up like the monumental back of an imaginary animal from
the terrace on the roof of the building, and a source of more
natural light for the four floors below.