ABSTRACT
Roma Termini is Italy’s most important railway station. The central node for all national and international railway lines, as well as the local transport system, it functions as the gateway to Rome. The original nineteenth-century station building was torn down in 1937 in order to make way for a new station to welcome the crowds expected for the 1942 World Fair. The brief demanded a main entrance to the station, office space, a ticketing hall and a restaurant in the central section. Two teams of architects won the competition. The brief for the competition had stipulated that the front of the station should house an efficient cafe/restaurant that could be accessed from inside the station as well as from the street. While the third-class restaurant was tucked away in a corner next to the kitchen, the restaurant for first and second-class travellers faced the square.
