Throughout the centuries, the eternal city of Rome has inspired the rest of the world. The great achievements of ancient Rome continue to echo throughout history. Their architecture of grand public works project inspire and delight. Now, Rome is going to become the home of the largest solar farm in the world.
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This planned solar farm will enable Rome to host the World Expo in 2030. The idea is to have every country contribute to the solar farm, which will power the exhibition site and decarbonize the nearby suburban neighborhoods. All the pavilions will be reusable, so they can serve different functions once the expo is over.
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This project was developed by CRA, Carlo Ratti Associati, architect Italo Rota and urbanist Richard Burdett. The solar farm, officially dubbed the Expo Solar Park, covers 150,000 square meters. Along with the solar panels, the area is full of trees that create a park-like feel. At the heart of the design is Eco-system 0.0, the tallest building in the expo. This creates cooling through evaporation.
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Moreover, the expo site will have three main areas: the city, the park and the boulevard. Here, both artificial and natural structures will coexist beautifully. The expo village will become an extension of the nearby University of Rome “Tor Vergata.” The boulevard is the pedestrian hub, a pathway through all the pavilions. On the other hand, the park is full of growing things and is accentuated by various pavilions.
The theme for the expo is “People and Territories, Together: Urban Regeneration, Inclusion and Innovation.” And with this urban solar farm, it is not only a stunning design, but it will have various shining panels sticking up over a dense cover of green. The farm not only absorbs free and renewable and totally clean energy from the sun, but it also helps to clean all the air around it, too.
Lastly, this is a beautiful model of a way to heal the world, provide green spaces in urban areas and power cities with clean, renewable energy. Once again, Rome is creating massive projects meant to inspire the world that will make their mark on human history.
Images via Carlo Ratti Associati
