Periurban Transitions. Images of a Landmark on the Tyrrhenian Coast.

The contribution synthesizes the results of a study on the transformations of an architectural landmark on the Tyrrhenian coast of Lazio. Impressive in size and architectural style, the complex of the former Meccanica Romana on the Via Ostiense is located near the archaeological site of Ostia Antica and adjacent to the seaside town of Ostia Lido, the coast closest to Rome. Originally conceived in the late 1920s as a factory, after a period of disuse and abandonment, its partial recovery has seen it become an important focus for the community. The transformation project began with the creation of collective recreational and cultural spaces – cinema, gaming hall, kindergarten – to support the metropolitan area of Rome and the peri-urban area of Ostia Lido. The images of the current state visually reveal enormous potential derived from the integrity of a unique and extraordinary spatial value. Observing the site, it is easy to highlights three important invariants: the adjacency to the archaeological excavations of Ostia Antica; the contiguity to the seaside town of Ostia Lido; the proximity to the Metropolitan area of Rome. In this direction, the study emphasizes the decisive urban components that have contributed to the growth of the seaside town of Ostia Lido, a place of experimentation between the two world wars. These characteristics are sufficient to understand the enormous potential of this monumental complex, the focal point of a peri-urban park, a landmark on a territorial scale, which nevertheless maintains the integrity of its architectural image. Comparing archival documents and photographs, a story telling deals with the preservation of an identity, testifying the transition of an architectural complex from a steel-factory to a dreams-factory: an attempt at sustainable conservation of cultural heritage and identity of a place.