A Procession of Zaha Hadid–Designed Spaces in Rome
Photo: Chris Dalton, courtesy of Romeo Collection
ROMEO Collection has just opened Hotel ROMEO Roma, the second location in the Italian capital for the proprietor of five-star hotels and, more importantly, one of the last designs by Zaha Hadid before her death in 2016. The 74-room boutique hotel is housed in a 16th-century palace just steps from Piazza del Popolo.
Zaha Hadid famously exploded onto the international architectural scene in 1983 with her competition-winning design for The Peak, a leisure club in Hong Kong that never got past the proverbial drawing board. It would take another ten years for Hadid to realize her first building, the equally explosive Vitra Fire Station, built on the Vitra campus in Weil am Rhein, Germany, in 1993. In between these dates was Hadid's first built work, Moonsoon Restaurant in Sapporo, Japan, a bold interior that saw Hadid in control of every surface and piece of furniture. Fast forward to 2005 and Hadid's smooth, flowing design for the first floor of Hotel Puerta America in Madrid, a 12-story hotel with each floor designed by a different architect.
These examples show that, although Hadid is more widely known for building designs like the first two, her considerable talents extended to interiors and to hospitality uses like the latter two. Coming ten years after it was designed and nine years after Hadid's death, Hotel ROMEO Roma should be a welcome treat for fans of Hadid and Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA), the firm led by Patrik Schumacher that carries on her name. Below is a slideshow of the hotel's processional sequence, from front door to guest room.
Hotel ROMEO Roma occupies Palazzo Caponi on Via di Ripetta, just south of Piazza del Popolo. Hotelier Alfredo Romeo bought the 16th-century building in 2012. (Photo: Jacopo Spilimbergo)
At the time of purchase, the building's tenant was INAIL (National Institute for Assistance of Accidents at Work), which had occupied the building since 1951 and added two wings in the 1950s. (Photo: Jacopo Spilimbergo)
ZHA described Hadid's design in a statement as "[starting] where Baroque architects ended their palimpsest — at the vaulted ceilings." Nowhere is this more dramatic than over the reception, located just off the gallery seen in the previous photo. (Photo: Chris Dalton, courtesy of Romeo Collection)
In addition to the reception and garden (peeked at in the top photo, through the transparent basin at the underground archeological find), the ground floor has spaces for dining and recreation, including a bistro, seen here, that can be accessed from Via di Ripetta as well as from the lobby. (Photo: Chris Dalton, courtesy of Romeo Collection)
Next to the bistro is Il Restaurante Alain Ducasse, the first restaurant in Rome for the famed chef from Monaco. (Photo: Chris Dalton, courtesy of Romeo Collection)
A cigar room off the entrance gallery is ensconced behind curved glass and lined with lacquered wood walls. (Photo: Chris Dalton, courtesy of Romeo Collection)
“The classical interpretation of Rome as a palimpsest of architectural layers,” in ZHA's words, even extends to the small gym, whose wood ceilings resemble groin vaults. (Photo: Chris Dalton, courtesy of Romeo Collection)
Ground floor plan of Hotel ROMEO Roma showing communal spaces (Drawing: ZHA)
The aptly named Fresco Suite is a double-height space where new insertions contrast with the preserved ceilings and walls. (Photo: Chris Dalton, courtesy of Romeo Collection)
Guests in the Fresco Suite are immersed in centuries-old art and decoration. (Photo: Chris Dalton, courtesy of Romeo Collection)
The marbles in the suites include Carrara Statuarietto, while the woods include Makassar ebony. Seen here is the Grand Suite. (Photo: Chris Dalton, courtesy of Romeo Collection)
Compare the previous suite with this Premier Room, which has a similar layout but cedar or chestnut instead of ebony. (Photo: Chris Dalton, courtesy of Romeo Collection)
Another view of a different Premier Room, showing the bathroom behind curved glass walls. (Photo: Chris Dalton, courtesy of Romeo Collection)
Like Hadid's early interiors, every aspect of Hotel ROMEO Roma down to the closets is custom-designed. (Photo: Chris Dalton, courtesy of Romeo Collection)
A pleasant surprise is this integrated fireplace in one of the suites. (Photo: Chris Dalton, courtesy of Romeo Collection)
