S.U.P.E.R. – Archaeological Park of the Coliseum

For Nero’s Cryptoportico, the House of Augustus and the House of Livia, three of the seven itineraries included in the Coliseum Archaeological Park, we conceived and created an experience designed to involve a large audience in an emotional way, while informing it at the same time on the historic and artistic content of these locations.

Nero’s Cryptoportico – an underground tunnel designed to connect the Domus Aurea with the Imperial palaces – now hosts a thirty metre long projection that introduces the various decorative elements contained in the Palatine archaeological sites. The immersive quality of the experience is enhanced by a very captivating sound track, which plays along the entire length of the space.

At the entrance of the House of Augustus, a video shows the architectural layout during the various constructions stages, enriched by decorations and Roman bas-reliefs. This moment acts as an introduction to the story behind the Augustus residence, conceived as a sacred mansion dedicated to the cult of Apollo and other ancient gods. In rooms like the “Room with the pine festoons”, the “Room of Masks”, the Tablino, the “Perspective Room” and the External Ramp, the combination of light and video mapping projections interact and highlight the geometry of the floors and the particular structural features of the wall, gradually building up to a simulation of the original premises.

In the House of Livia the visitor is invited to follow the story told by the narrator, which thanks to a synchronised lighting design outlines the spaces and describes the purpose of each room. The video mapping presentation brings back to life a typical fresco of Polyphemus and Galatea, reconstructed from a sketch made by the very archaeologists who discovered the residence at the end of the 19th century, many centuries after it had been buried underground.

The sensations and amount of information that can communicated using audio-visual media, with the help of sector experts and the collaboration, in this case, of Electa Mondadori, have enabled us to make the narratives locked away in these locations visible and to breathe new life into this amazing historical evidence.