Campus World Food Programme

Living Infrastructure – Campus for Urban Agriculture, Water Intelligence, and Food Security

The design proposes a new headquarters for the World Food Programme (WFP) along the banks of the Tiber in Ostiense – a Roman industrial district in transition. At its core lies the skeleton of a former grain silo, transformed into a technological-agricultural campus. The project interweaves heritage, innovation, and sustainable production.

The WFP is engaged worldwide in food and disaster relief, often in regions affected by water scarcity. Conscious water management therefore becomes the architectural leitmotif. The silo retains its structural frame but is complemented by planting troughs in the shape of inverted pyramids for urban agriculture. A lightweight steel addition with a textile envelope functions as a rainwater collector. The harvested water is stored in tanks, while the basement filters water from the Tiber, powered by solar-driven pumps. Exposed technical elements and an exhibition make the water cycle tangible.

The planting troughs are modular and adaptable: depending on the season, the space can alternate between agriculture, research, and events. The building thus becomes a breathing agricultural organism. A sunken courtyard with foyer and canteen opens toward the test garden.

The remaining program is arranged in a low plinth structure surrounding the courtyard, allowing the silo to stand out as the central body. An additional volume housing a market hall and residential units marks the transition to the neighborhood. The market hall is open, permeable, and adaptable to diverse uses.

The silo extension and the residential building appear as floating volumes, visually detached from the massive plinth. Together, they define the vertical anchors of the campus, creating a bridge between function, technology, and urban space.

Il filo verde

The master’s thesis FOODTURA develops an architectural concept for a former industrial site in Rome. At its center lies the transformation of the historic grain storage facility Granaio dell’Urbe, which is complemented by new buildings to create a new campus for the World Food Programme. All structures are framed by a continuous plinth, functioning as a connective element at street level and reweaving the site into the urban fabric.

The existing reinforced concrete skeleton receives a new recessed façade, allowing the original structure to remain visible while simultaneously providing solar shading. Within, offices, vertical farming spaces, and public functions are accommodated. A conference hall and a residential building for staff and guests break through the plinth, forming an ensemble together with the historic structure.

The project seeks to make food – the central theme of the WFP – a visible design motif in public space. Research, production, and education are spatially and symbolically intertwined through the filo verde – a tube for microalgae cultivation. It connects greenhouses, test fields, and interior spaces, rendering research visible and sparking curiosity among visitors.

The use of recycled concrete, local travertine, and metal references the site’s industrial past. Large areas are unsealed, rooftops are greened, and rainwater harvesting is proposed.

Il filo verde is conceived as an ecological and social catalyst – a model for the transformation of urban space in response to global challenges such as climate change, resource scarcity, and food security.

Re:Granaio

In the tension between history and future, the Ex Granaio dell’Urbe is transformed into the new headquarters of the World Food Programme – a place of global food security, local public life, and collective production. The preserved concrete skeleton of a former grain storage facility becomes the framework for an open design that interweaves supply, education, living, and working.

At its heart lies a vertical, publicly accessible landscape that connects the existing structure with the new additions. Open platforms and flexible, movable curtains create spaces for workshops, co-working, communal cooking, and social encounters. A central kitchen supplies the canteen, events, and daily shared meals – visible, efficient, and integrative.

The site evolves into an urban ecosystem, uniting global emergency relief with local self-sufficiency: community gardens, test fields, and a public park connect with a market hall along the Tiber. A movable crane links production, distribution, and everyday life – from the garden to the laboratory.

The existing structure remains legible, continued in its raw materiality. Protected office spaces stretch between the columns, while visual axes traverse the building. The head building gains a new identity through a translucent polycarbonate façade.

The new extension provides housing for students, young professionals, and WFP staff. A textile skin envelops the ensemble, acting both as solar protection and as a communicative layer. At the top, a column-free conference hall opens toward the Gazometro – establishing an architectural dialogue with the industrial neighborhood.

“Giardino Cereale”

The transformation of the Ex Granaio dell’Urbe in Rome into the new headquarters of the World Food Programme is guided by the principle that the most sustainable building is always the one that already exists.

The design is based on two key strategies: maximizing the use of existing spaces and introducing only a minimalist extension, thereby keeping new construction to a minimum. At the same time, the sealed concrete expanse of the site is opened up and converted into a public garden for the community, reflecting the WFP’s ecological, social, and cultural mission.

A secondary façade of steel beams envelops and extends the existing structure, offering a reinterpretation of the original skeleton. It links the historic building with the new interventions while allowing its materiality and structure to remain visible.

The new campus addresses the adaptive reuse of a historic building, responding to the needs of its contemporary context while acknowledging its responsibility toward the existing fabric—practically, functionally, and symbolically.