Abstract

This short essay synthetically traces the urban evolution of the Prati-delle Vittorie district of Rome, highlighting the role that the building - constructed as a depot and workshop for trams - had in its con)guration. It sets out the constructive history of the building and its architectural features, which today are recognisable as industrial archaeology. It dwells on the recent history of the abandonment and planned demolition, reporting the initiatives promoted by the citizens who have contested the programs of privatisation and building speculation, and have contributed to the protection of the building by institutions. It describes a process of active participation that kept alive the attention to urban quality and watched over its maintenance, whilst envisaging for this architectural complex a future in which it could become a usable good, enhanced in its historical and architectural values but also in the urban and therefore social meanings.