By M. Moreno

December 21, 2025

In Rome’s expanding Città Verde district, “Ali e Radici” (“Wings and Roots”) is redefining what a housing project can be, transforming a cluster of condominiums into a living, participatory artwork that stretches from Italian schools to an American university campus. At the center of this ambitious experiment stands Italian artist Marco Guglielmi Reimmortal, a Miamibased visual artist, sound designer, and performer whose career spans Venice Biennale, Art Basel Miami, and international festivals, now channelled into a threeyear urban laboratory linking Rome and the United States.

A Bauhaus for the suburbs

La Leva S.r.l., a Rome developer with over 3,000 housing units and a reputation for sustainable, energyefficient projects, conceived “Wings and Roots” as the cultural heart of its latest Città Verde expansion. The project is presented as one of the first concrete Italian applications of the New European Bauhaus, the European Union initiative that asks cities to merge beauty, sustainability, and social inclusion when reimagining built environments.

Rather than treat art as a final decorative layer, La Leva embeds it into the very grammar of the neighborhood: courtyards, promenades, and communal areas are designed to function as an openair gallery where affordable housing, circular economy, and intergenerational dialogue share the same physical space. In this framework, Guglielmi’s project is both symbol and operating system, turning the residential complex into a place where everyday life and cultural production constantly overlap.

The symbolic engine: Wings and Roots

Marco in this operation plays a dual role, both as an artist and artistic director. In his vision, Wings and Roots emerges as a single artistic installation created by multiple hands. The true challenge is coordinating multiple international public and private institutions in cooperating to realize the work expressed through multiple artworks. At the core of the initiative lies a large sculpture titled “Ali e Radici,” dedicated to the founders of La Leva and destined for the main common areas of the Urban District. Around it, like satellites in orbit, will stand six thronesculptures designed by university students and twenty mosaics collectively titled “Il Mondo dei Sogni,” conceived by highschool students from Rome after an initial creative cycle with younger children.

The iconography combines two universal archetypes: wings, associated with vision, desire, and the future, and roots, linked to stability, responsibility, and memory. Their tension becomes a metaphor for contemporary urban life—families seeking both security and openness, tradition and innovation—translated into physical forms that residents will encounter daily on their walks, meetings, and children’s play.

Marco Guglielmi, from sonic bodies to urban ecosystems

Guglielmi arrives at this project with more than three decades of experimental work at the intersection of sound and image, known for large conceptual installations where light, structure, and audio create immersive “sonic bodies.” His curriculum includes appearances tied to the Venice Biennale, international biennials in Florence, Macro Museum of Contemporary Art of Rome and art fairs such as SCOPE New York/Miami, Hamptons Fine Art Fair Red Dot Miami, EXCO Daegu in South Korea, as well as gallery representation in Miami and Rome.

That background in multisensory, largescale installations explains why La Leva chose him not simply as an artist among others, but as the sole inventor and author of the entire artistic concept for “Wings and Roots.” In internal documents and official letters, the company stresses that without his creative vision and leadership, the very idea of the project would not exist, and its international connections—especially with the United States—would be unthinkable.

A crossAtlantic studio: Rome–Miami–Arkansas

One of the distinctive features of the project is its structural link to the United States, both biographical and institutional. Guglielmi lives in Miami, where he is active in the contemporary art scene and represented by an art gallery on Biscayne Boulevard, while maintaining an office and longstanding collaborations in Rome. This dual base allows him to operate as a cultural bridge, moving easily between European art circuits and the American context of performance, installation, and sound art.

Within “Wings and Roots,” the most visible US connection is the University of Arkansas Rome Program and its architecture school, the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design. La Leva previously supported the US Pavilion installation “Porch: an Architecture of Generosity” at the Venice Architecture Biennale, a project led by the University of Arkansas that explored hospitality and shared public space, laying the groundwork for a deeper collaboration. That same network now feeds into Città Verde: Arkansas students engage with the Roman site, working under Guglielmi’s direction on the thronesculptures and on design processes that connect American architectural education with the everyday life of Italian families.

A threeyear script of workshops and curation

Unlike a typical commission, “Wings and Roots” is written as a threeyear script running from 2025 to the end of 2027, detailing the evolution from concept to inauguration. In the first year, Guglielmi develops the global artistic concept, completes the 3D design of the main sculpture, organizes contacts with schools and universities, and conducts workshops in kindergartens, high schools, and university studios, culminating in the approval of student projects for the twenty mosaics and six thrones.

The second year is focused on physical creation: a specialized firm builds and installs the central sculpture, while mosaics and thrones are progressively realized and mounted, always under the artist’s remote supervision and periodic onsite checks. The third and final year is dedicated to finishing touches, coordinated installation of all components, and public events that formally present the ensemble to residents and institutions, with Guglielmi presiding either in person or via live connection from the US.

Intergenerational education as artistic medium

What makes “Wings and Roots” particularly unusual is its explicit use of education—not as a side program—but as a core artistic medium. The process begins with workshops in nursery and primary schools, where children’s drawings, stories, and dreams are collected in a document called “Il Mondo dei Sogni,” which then becomes the conceptual reference for highschool students designing the twenty mosaics destined for the condominium spaces.

At the university level, students are tasked with conceiving six thronesculptures, three on the theme of Wings and three on Roots, participating in a competitive process culminating in a jury selection of the final projects. Guglielmi directs and supervises every stage, from initial brainstorming to material choices, ensuring that the youthful creativity is framed by a coherent conceptual and aesthetic structure worthy of a permanent public artwork.

Donation, authorship, and value

Another unusual element is the way the project intertwines artistic donation and professional recognition. Contractually, the main sculpture “Ali e Radici” is a donation from Guglielmi to La Leva, with the company assuming all costs of fabrication, transport, installation, and insurance, and committing to permanently credit the artist and install a commemorative plaque in honor of the founders.

At the same time, the artist’s 200 hours of creative and curatorial work—covering concept, direction, coordination with educational institutions, and continuous supervision—are compensated at 150 euros per hour, a level explicitly noted by La Leva as reflecting his standing in contemporary visual arts. The combination of a gifted centerpiece and a high professional fee underlines a dual message: the work is both an act of symbolic generosity and a strategic asset that elevates the brand, international profile, and cultural credentials of the realestate project.

A prototype for future cities

For La Leva, “Wings and Roots” is more than a oneoff initiative; it is presented as a model for future developments where sustainable housing, circular economy, and art codesign the urban fabric with residents and institutions. For Guglielmi, it is the extension of his long research into “vibrant sonic bodies” and immersive environments, transplanted into a residential neighborhood and amplified by the transatlantic dialogue with the United States.

In a city where public art often arrives as an isolated object, “Ali e Radici” proposes a different paradigm: a slow, shared process in which an artist’s vision guides children, teenagers, American and Italian university students, developers, and families toward a common, lived artwork that will continue to shape daily life long after the opening ceremony. It is this fusion of intergenerational education, New European Bauhaus principles, and a tangible Rome–Miami–Arkansas axis that makes the project—and Marco Guglielmi’s role within it—both unique and emblematic of a new, more connected idea of the city.
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Wings and Roots: How Marco Guglielmi Turns a Roman Housing Project into a Living Work of Art

In Rome’s Città Verde district, the project “Ali e Radici” (“Wings and Roots”) is transforming a new sustainable housing development into a living artwork that connects local families, Italian schools, and an American university campus. Conceived by artist Marco (Marko) Guglielmi Reimmortal and promoted by the real estate company La Leva, it is presented as the first concrete Italian application of the European Union’s New European Bauhaus vision within an affordable housing plan.

A New European Bauhaus neighborhood

La Leva, a developer with over 3,000 residential units completed in Rome and a history of certified sustainable and energyefficient projects, has framed Città Verde as a model district where circular economy, green design, and social inclusion are embedded from the outset. Within this framework, “Ali e Radici” becomes the cultural and symbolic engine of the new Urban District, turning common areas, the shopping promenade, and shared courtyards into an openair gallery.

Articles and institutional statements describe the initiative as a pioneering New European Bauhaus project in Italy, using art to rethink how people live together, share public space, and build community identity in a sustainable way. The project has also received the patronage and support of the Concilio Europeo dell’Arte in Venice, signaling recognition from the European cultural sphere.

The symbolic system: wings and roots

At the heart of the project is a large sculpture titled “Ali e Radici,” dedicated to the founding fathers of La Leva and destined for the central common areas of the Città Verde Urban District. Around this core, six thronesculptures and twenty mosaics will create a narrative pathway along the district’s main promenade and shared spaces, turning the everyday routes of residents into a sequence of artistic encounters.

The conceptual framework is built on two universal archetypes: wings, associated with dream, vision, and future, and roots, linked to stability, responsibility, and memory. Guglielmi has described the whole project as an “extended conceptual installation” in which the artwork is not limited to the objects themselves but encompasses the process, relationships, and transformation of the neighborhood into a place of shared meaning.

An intergenerational and participatory artwork

“Ali e Radici” is explicitly designed as an intergenerational, participatory project that involves different age groups in the creation of permanent public works. Children in Rome’s primary schools are invited to share their dreams and visions in guided workshops, producing drawings and stories that become the raw material for the project’s “Mondo dei Sogni” (“World of Dreams”) document.

Students at the Italian Liceo Artistico then transform these ideas into twenty ground mosaics, using recycled ceramic waste from industrial production, aligning the creative process with circulareconomy principles. At university level, students design six thronesculptures—three focused on Wings and three on Roots—that will be placed along the shopping and pedestrian spine of the Urban District, turning it into a kind of open, walkable museum where housing, retail, and art coexist.

Marco Guglielmi’s unique role

La Leva’s internal documents and public communications underline that Marco (Marko) Guglielmi Reimmortal is not simply a contributing artist but the sole inventor and author of the “Ali e Radici” concept, responsible for the overall symbolic architecture of the project. He designs the central sculpture, defines the conceptual framework for the thrones and mosaics, and supervises every artistic stage—from school workshops to final installation—to ensure coherence with his original vision.

Guglielmi brings to this role a profile shaped by international exhibitions, multimedia installations, and performancebased work, often described as “sonic alchemy” at the intersection of sound, image, and structure. Beyond his visual practice, he is also noted as a resident artist with the Florida Grand Opera, which adds an unusual operatic and performative dimension to his approach to largescale conceptual works

The US link: Arkansas and beyond

The project’s connection to the United States is both personal and institutional. Biographically, Guglielmi resides in Miami and maintains a strong presence in the US art scene, including exhibitions and collaborations with galleries and performance festivals, while retaining deep roots in Rome’s cultural landscape.

Institutionally, “Ali e Radici” is built around a partnership with the University of Arkansas Rome Center and the Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design, whose students are directly involved in designing the thronesculptures and engaging with the Città Verde site. The project was officially presented on 28 October 2025 in the agora of the United States Pavilion at the Giardini of the Venice Biennale, with the Concilio Europeo dell’Arte as partner—an event that symbolically situates this Roman housing development at the crossroads of Italian and American cultural institutions.

From Venice to the Roman suburbs

Presentations and teasers show “Ali e Radici” framed not only as a local initiative but as part of an international conversation on green cities and New European Bauhaus principles. In Venice, the project was introduced in the spaces linked to the US Pavilion, consolidating the dialogue that La Leva had already opened in previous collaborations with American universities at the Architecture Biennale.

Back in Rome, social and professional channels for Città Verde emphasize the project’s role in events dedicated to sustainability and the right to housing, highlighting “Ali e Radici” as an invitation to rethink how common spaces are imagined and used. Communication around the project stresses that contemporary real estate can no longer be reduced to square meters and finishes; it must also generate ties, memory, and active citizenship.

Education, sustainability, and circular economy

Beyond art and international partnerships, “Ali e Radici” positions itself as a concrete implementation of circulareconomy and educational goals. The mosaics use recycled ceramic materials; highschool students are involved in handson, preprofessional training that touches both artistic and technical skills; and the project is framed as a tool to promote environmental and social awareness among young people.

Statements by La Leva’s architect Alessandro Guglielmi and sustainability advisor Marco Mari stress that regenerating the city today means not only building efficiently but also restoring shared identity and value through measurable, communitybased projects. “Ali e Radici” thus functions as both a symbolic device—through its wingsandroots iconography—and a practical platform where art education, sustainable materials, and intergenerational dialogue are tested in real time.

Donation, authorship, and recognition

From a contractual and symbolic standpoint, the central sculpture “Ali e Radici” is donated by Guglielmi to La Leva, with the company covering all production, transport, and installation costs and committing to permanent credit and a commemorative plaque in honor of its founders. The artist, however, retains full intellectual property and moral rights over the concept and documentation, and La Leva acknowledges that his authorship is indispensable to the project.

Guglielmi’s broader work—linked to institutions in Italy and the US, and recognized through his professional fees and positions—reinforces why “Ali e Radici” is viewed as unique: it is not just a sculpture in a courtyard but a longterm, crossAtlantic experiment in which a residential district becomes a shared artwork shaped by children, students, architects, and an artist whose life and practice bridge Rome and the United States.