Velabro Palace, Rome

In the heart of the Foro Boario in Rome, the project restores both intimacy and vision to Palazzo Velabro — an eighteenth-century building suspended between eras and marked by Luigi Moretti’s interventions in the 1960s.
Conceived and realized for Design Hotels – Marriott under the concept “A room is not enough”, the design weaves together social spaces — a library, a cinema, a terrace, and a restaurant — with the private realms of the rooms, each conceived as a fully domestic apartment. Curved lines shape the interiors, guided by three primary colour narratives: earth, green, and blue.
Art threads through the project, bridging past and present. Temporary exhibitions and site-specific interventions by emerging artists, such as Edoardo Piermattei, who frescoed the ceilings, coexist with works by more established figures — Ettore Spalletti and Gabriele Basilico — forming permanent elements within the communal spaces. Through this interplay of art, architecture, and human experience, Palazzo Velabro becomes a space where memory, creativity, and daily life converge.

Garibaldi Architects Team: Alessia Garibaldi, Luca Paviglianiti, Laura Farotti, Andrea Arenas
Collaboration: Building renovation Gianfranco Tringali
Press: AD (online), Corriere della Sera, Forbes (online), Forbes Life, Hotel Domani, Platform, suite 212, suite 215, The Good Life, The Plan (online), Vanity Fair (online), Wine & Luxury
Credits: Giacomo Albo, Helenio Barbetta