Almost twenty years ago, in 2005, Rome’s city council planned the construction in the Tor Vergata neighborhood of a new Sports City, or else a polyfunctional sports complex which included an indoor swimming arena and another indoor arena for volleyball and basketball. All of this in anticipation of the 2009 World Aquatics Championships, which would be held in the capital city.
The project was designed by the world renowned architect Santiago Calatrava, a star in the international architectural landscape. The cost was estimated at around 60 million euros, but by the time that the assignment was awarded, the cost had already doubled and the construction process slowed until it eventually stopped in 2007. The political shenanigans didn’t help and it was soon clear that the work wasn’t going to be finished in time for the World Championships thus abandoning the unfinished site to its fate.
Up until the beginning of this year, “Le Vele di Calatrava” were an infamous example of desolation and abandonment, but in preparation to the 2025 Jubilee, the state property administration will fund three kind of restoration projects for a total of 70 million euros: the process of securing and testing of the buildings, the conclusion of the indoor arena site and, lastly, a restoration of the green areas around the iconic buildings.
If the schedule is respected, by the end of December 2024 the work will be finished.
We’re very happy to announce that TimelapseLab will be present, from this year’s September to December, with 4 TLA8 devices that will remotely monitor the progress of the construction site and that will allow us to make a timelapse video, showing the rebirth process of this iconic landmark.
