Tor Bella Monaca Research Articles

Urban energy transition: Sustainable model simulation for social house district

Energy communities (EC) play a crucial role in driving the transition towards renewable energy sources within urban areas. This study focuses on the implementation of EC within linear mass housing in Rome, with particular attention given to the Tor Bella Monaca district. The research proposes and simulates six energy community distinct scenarios using the Urban Modelling Interface (UMI) and Simulink in order to advance understanding of this topic. These scenarios evaluate the integration of photovoltaic systems, heat pumps, and energy storage systems to determine their comprehensive effect on renewable energy production, CO2 emission reduction, and the enhancement of self-consumption. The study findings show that higher electrification levels in an energy community lead to greater consumption of renewable energy and reduced reliance on the grid. The integration of heat pumps and energy storage further enhances energy consumption and self-sufficiency creating sustainable energy models in urban environments. With an increase in self-consumption factor and self-sufficiency factor of 0.15–0.30 and 0.11–0.13, respectively, depending on the scenario. The research highlights the importance of a thorough assessment of technology sizing and integration in order to enhance self-consumption and decrease CO2 emissions. It proposes investigating the incorporation of both thermal and electrical storage to optimize self-consumption. Finally, the simulated scenarios underwent flexibility analyses to determine the precise energy flow capacity and the optimal setting identified through economic evaluation.

Public Housing Stock between Recovery and Sustainability: The Case of Tor Bella Monaca in Rome

The buildings and construction sector is responsible for 37% of energy-related CO2 emissions and over 34% of energy demand globally. The redevelopment of the existing residential building stock has become a consolidated policy of the European Commission to implement the objectives of economic recovery and energy transition towards climate neutrality by 2050. This paper illustrates the design experimentation conducted by the Sapienza University team on the recovery of the public housing compartment R5 in Tor Bella Monaca, Rome. The research proposes an original methodology that is ideally replicable for regenerating large public housing districts built on the outskirts of major European cities, characterised by significant technological and social degradation and energy deficiency. This paper provides an overview of the interventions and an evaluation of the method and set of tools developed in drafting the Technical and Economic Feasibility Study at both the neighbourhood and building levels. This contribution is addressed to researchers and public and private organisations dealing with the complexity of the social housing recovery topic, emphasising overall sustainability aspects of interventions in terms of typological and energy refurbishment of buildings, re-activation of open spaces and enhancement of landscape components, and envisioning new services through participatory methods that promote social inclusion.

Development of an Energy Community through semi-dynamic simulation of a urban social housing

Energy communities (ECs) are instrumental in driving the transition to renewable energy in urban areas. This study focuses on implementing ECs in Rome’s Tor Bella Monaca district, with a particular focus on linear mass housing. Using the Urban Modeling Interface (UMI) and Simulink, four energy community scenarios were simulated to evaluate their potential outcomes. The scenarios involved integrating photovoltaics and heat pumps into the community’s infrastructure to assess their impact on renewable energy production and CO2 reduction. The results demonstrate that higher electrification within an energy community leads to increased self-consumption of renewable energy and reduced reliance on the grid. Furthermore, the integration of heat pumps enhances energy consumption efficiency. This research highlights the significant potential of energy communities and innovative technologies in managing local renewable energy resources effectively. It provides valuable insights for developing sustainable energy models in urban areas. It emphasizes the importance of carefully evaluating technology sizing, integration, and the inclusion of thermal and electrical storage to maximize self-consumption while minimizing CO2 emissions. The study’s findings offer practical guidance for policymakers, urban planners, and stakeholders involved in sustainable energy management. They underscore the need for a holistic approach that combines technological advancements, community engagement, and thoughtful integration of renewable energy systems. Ultimately, this research contributes to the adoption of energy communities as crucial elements of a resilient and environmentally-friendly future.

Materializar la idea: el proceso multinivel de diseño

<p>Esta investigación demuestra el gran potencial que la tecnología de la información (ICT) desempeña en el ámbito arquitectónico. El foco central de este trabajo es el proceso creativo y generativo del proyecto arquitectónico. La creación de una salida que emplea la realidad virtual (RV) resultó ser particularmente importante para que el proyecto pueda ser utilizado en modo interactivo y personalizado. En particular, el estudio de caso utilizado en esta investigación es la periferia de Roma y más precisamente el barrio de Tor Bella Monaca. Procedimientos analógicos y manuales se transforman en productos virtuales gracias a específicos procesos de digitalización. Dentro de este proceso, heterogéneo y multinivel, un elemento esencial y insustituible es siempre la idea de diseño. Pueden haber muchas técnicas para crear, desarrollar y sintetizar el concepto inicial. De hecho, la posibilidad de integrar diferentes métodos puede ser motivo de gran enriquecimiento del proyecto mismo, pero solo con una idea fuerte y un concepto claro se puede obtener un resultado cualitativamente importante. Fluidez, continuidad y dinamismo coexisten y se nutren recíprocamente en el proceso creativo bajo investigación.</p>

Snakes and the Eternal City: variation in community metrics, body size and population density of snakes in contrasted landscapes of suburban Rome (Italy)

Reports of global declines in animal populations are now numerous and also include snakes, a group of animals now widely regarded as bio indicators. A prerequisite for any conservation management plan to protect or restore snake populations requires a data base that provides insight into population composition and changes. However, snakes are well known to be particularly difficult to quantitatively sample due to their secretive and elusive nature, and hence accumulating an adequate database for analysis requires long-term field studies that involve intensive searches. Populations of four snake species, Zamensis longissimus, Natrix helvetica, Vipera aspis and Hierophis viridiflavus living in two suburban areas of Rome with different extents of habitat alteration (deforestation), Vejo, a less altered site, and Tor Bella Monaca, a high altered site, have been monitored, but with interruptions since 1995. The results indicated that H. viridiflavus was the commonest species at both sites. Male bias was found in all four species but especially in Z. longissimus and V. aspis with detection of juveniles greatest in H. viridiflavus and N. helvetica. Snout to vent lengths (SVL) of H. viridiflavus and Z. longissimus, which were present at both sites, were greater at the less degraded habitat of the two study localities. Community metrics indicated that the degraded habitat had lower species richness, evenness, Shannon and Simpson diversity indices, but a higher dominance index. Recapture frequencies of snakes recaptured either once or multiple times were in general greater at Vejo. The highest population densities were found in H. viridiflavus, followed by V. aspis and N. helvetica, which were similar. However, long term trends in densities show declines in V. aspis and N. helvetica between 1995 and 2019. Population densities were in good agreement with density estimates found in previous studies of snakes in more natural habitats.

Regeneration of shared self-managed spaces: the case study of Tor Bella Monaca in Rome

In metropolitan suburbs, due to lacking administrative decisions, residents, spontaneously organized in groups, occupy disused spaces to rebuild social relationships and revitalize the urban texture. In order to define design criteria based on user experience, a group of urbanists, engineers, architects, anthropologists and sociologists, is currently undertaking a study, with Rome Universities “Sapienza” and “Tor Vergata”, on a sample of buildings in the Tor Bella Monaca neighborhood in Rome. The first phase of social observation of ‘daily practices’ was followed by the elaboration of metadesign tests, in order to define renovation options to be provided to ATER. The findings, though limited to 30% of the settlement, enable researchers to replicate the work methodology.

Architettura e paesaggio tra prossimità e distanza

The paper starts from the idea of the architectural nature of the landscape with the intention or revealing the figurative quality of mediocre contemporary landscapes, in relation to the search for meaning which design must confer on specific and close places. It is possible through architecture, even in a rarefied urban context, to research and propose new dynamic and changeable rules for urban planning. The scenarios proposed for the use of public land at Tor Bella Monaca are intended to highlight the relationship between the dimensions of architecture and those of the landscape: by reconsidering the density of the gap between Tor Bella Monaca and Torre Angela along the western edge; by designing new transverse areas to connect the neighbourhood internally; by working on the dialogue between the open courtyards along the eastern edge and the landscape of the Agro Romano countryside which runs into it.

"Il campo arato, il giardino, il ponte, la città": matrici architettoniche sullo sfondo di Tor Bella Monaca

Contemporary landscape is a complex ‘text', packed with interfering elements which appear as overlapping areas of land with multiple sections capable of revealing sequences of the periods that have affected it. Tor Bella Monaca is an interesting field of study because it lies in a varied and heterogeneous region, in which four different types of inhabited landscape meet: agricultural, natural, infrastructural and urban, which make it an emblematic case that opens up new conceptual horizons for design. Scenarios emerge from these which are associated with: urban ‘regeneration' processes, which modernise buildings and landscapes again; the ‘renovation' of abandoned spaces, the reuse of infrastructural landscapes; and finally the recycling of resources which are still usable. The integration of four landscapes allows us to grasp a new dynamic and relational vision of space, with a view to the recovery and conscious transformation of our urban heritage.

Nuove misure urbane. Una ricerca progettuale per Tor Bella Monaca

Distance becomes a problem in the regeneration of neighbourhoods built in the second half of the twentieth century both from the viewpoint of form and the use of spaces, where the measurements expand in the open intervals and in the shape of the built structures. The hypothesis formulated in the design research project on Tor Bella Monaca is that even those parts of the city built in the second half of the twentieth century can become consolidated, starting from their measurements and rhythms and from the broad intervals that created the basic design, but which must be transformed at the same time to respond to contemporary uses and needs. Remeasurement of the space is therefore a task of interpretation for architectural designers in order to recognise the intrinsic qualities of marginal urban housing designs to support redevelopment strategies which hinge on densification, subtraction, addition and infrastructures for the urban fabric, without trivialising the reconstitution of the proximity and the contact space in a historically anachronistic perspective.

Rigenerazione di tracciati e di tessuti urbani marginali: Tor Bella Monaca, Roma

The paper presents some of the materials from a Miur-Prin (Ministry of education research programme) study conducted in 2008 on the regeneration of peripheral neighbourhoods which were physically, environmentally and socially rundown, carried out between the 1930s and the 1980s. The collection of writings and projects that follow addresses the emblematic example of the Roman neighbourhood of Tor Bella Monaca.

Progetto di rigenerazione architettonica dell'edificio R5 a Tor Bella Monaca

A degree thesis written in conjunction with Diap research on the Tor Bella Monaca neighbourhood case study, which proposes intervention on an existing building, the R5 block. This is one of the buildings for which demolition is proposed according to the neighbourhood plan drawn up by the architect Krier and backed by Alemanno, the Mayor of Rome. The intention on the contrary is to investigate an alternative to demolition, which involves the reuse of existing structures, following an approach of reuse, regeneration of the built and agricultural land savings. An initial phase of identifying general design strategies was followed by activity to reorganise all parts of the building with particular attention paid to the ground floor, the design of open spaces, the insertion of new functions and the redesign of the accommodation.

Costruire sul costruito a Tor Bella Monaca: strategie di rigenerazione dello spazio edificato

To rethink the Tor Bella Monaca neighbourhood with its current configuration as the starting point, without recourse to the demolition planned by the Rome City Council, is the horizon set for the planning research project carried out, part of which focuses on the formulation of regeneration strategies for built space. These strategies, which were identified through stratification, densification and rarefaction operations, reflect on the idea of modifying the existing situation and transforming it, with the aim of understanding how architectural and urban design can meet the challenge of ‘building on the built' today.

Costruire sul costruito

Awareness of the need to regenerate rundown urban areas has become increasingly more widespread and generally accepted since the 1990s. To take action in this type of area not only avoids expansion onto extra urban land, but also makes it possible to reuse existing services and infrastructures and to avoid wasting social and environmental values, by using economic resources to co-ordinate quality, density and mobility consistent with sustainable development. A group of lecturers, PhD graduates and PhD students from eight departments of Italian faculties of architecture, advance the proposal to experiment with methods and strategies to regenerate public sector residential housing estates in Italy since the war until the 1980s through a case study on the Tor Bella Monaca neighbourhood in Rome. Two issues were studied in particular detail: the formulation of a new land use plan and the renovation of buildings.

Ri-leggere Tor Bella Monaca. Mappare le aree sensibili al mutamento: criticità urbane come potenzialità rigenerative

Too big, fragmented, rundown and inaccessible. These and others are the reasons which the City of Rome used to justify the demolition of Tor Bella Monaca. A few questions should be asked here. Is it possible to turn the problems into potential for regenerating the neighbourhood? Is it possible to use a new description of Tor Bella Monaca to demonstrate that the project proposed by the City administration will not solve the problems identified? Strategic objectives for the regeneration project were formulated on the basis of the problems. These were permeability, connection and relationship. The map of the areas which can be changed is used as the key factor in the process. On the one hand it identifies the areas and spatial categories in which the strategic objectives are concretely addressed and on the other hand - thanks to a process of interpretation and abstraction - it is open to the determination of regenerative strategies.

Strategie di rigenerazione architettonica e urbana sostenibile: il caso di Tor Bella Monaca

Against the background of proposals to demolish and rebuild the Tor Bella Monaca neighbourhood in Rome and others to redevelop it, made in response to the idea of creating a clean slate, this paper highlights a set of energy and environmental strategies and the integration of these with the project proposed by the Milan Polytechnic research group for sustainable architectural and urban regeneration. Interpretation of the environmental features and the diffusion of the consequent actions is resulting in broad ranging methodological considerations applicable to similar cases, which regard the issues of demolition strategies, the enhancement of existing structures and ‘building on the built'. As a consequence tools should be acquired to assess longterm sustainability, in order to go beyond the narrow viewpoint of short-term advantages.

Infrastrutture: reti, spazi a luoghi. Il caso del quartiere Tor Bella Monaca a Roma

This paper analyses the close relationships which connect infrastructures, public space and mobility. It asserts that these three ‘variables' are closely dependent on each other, by showing how, especially on the scale of what is termed the ‘local network', infrastructures not only take on the character of a ‘network', but also that of space so that they end up by coinciding or interfering with most public spaces in the neighbourhoods, and that the current mobility model is making the repercussions which that conflict of use is having on the quality of public space worse. The Tor Bella Monaca case is used to show that it is indispensable today to plan on the one hand by adopting a new mobility model, following European guidelines, and on the other that the identification of space and infrastructures with public space involves a series of strategies designed to adapt them to their new found dual nature.