The idea is to situate the project within an area otherwise of through traffic, delocalising cultural hubs from the city of Rome, to make the new art forms more accessible to all, stimulating growth and curiosity, regenerating and enhancing the original characteristics of the area by making it habitable and convivial. Our project proposes content aimed at encouraging the participation of the public at large as well as of the residents in the proposed cultural events. In this way we promote inclusion, responsible sociability, sharing and participation of citizens in the cultural life of the city, while incentivising collective use of an urban space. Through a multicultural artistic programme, focussing on the encounter between local and national artists, there is a strengthening of the dialogue between the social and national contexts. Furthermore, we also paid attention to uniting the urban fabric by involving the principal district players such as Sinestetica, Agostino Corso Trieste, Palmerie Parioli, CityLab as well as curators of the Roman theatrical underground.

We have reworked some historical notes relative to the square, imagining and inventing previously non-existent cultural connections . From this creative phase Annibale Books, Vinyls and Coffee was born. The naming Annibale (Hannibal) plays on the name of the square even though there is no real connection between the two, but it allowed us to use characterising aspects such as the pastel colours, the elephants and the oases in the desert. We mixed these elements and developed a catchy visual identity which follows European urban space trends.

The neuralgic centre of Annibale is the kiosk situated in the centre of the square. We dedicated our efforts to the planning and design of the entire space, building a pop-up of zero environmental impact, temporary and dismantlable. The structure of the kiosk is composed of recyclable and reusable materials, such as scaffolding pipes and plywood panels. The structure has been embellished with vegetable fibre furnishings and neon lighting. We have created a comfortable area around the kiosk to accommodate tables, chairs and umbrellas. Finally, we thoroughly cleaned up the whole area, in accordance with the national sanitary directives relating to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as proceeding with the necessary pruning and gardening work to restore order and decorum to the square.

We imagined Annibale as a crossroads of ideas and moments, but in order to achieve this we needed interesting cultural proposals to distinguish our project from a simple gathering place. For this reason we approached publishers and exponents of the Rome theatrical and publishing world (Sinestetica) with a view to proposing a programme full of irresistible events to the population. Annibale has hosted stand-up comedy, recitals, readings and book presentations which proved very successful. Furthermore, the kiosk has been used as a vinyl store and book-crossing corner open to the public.

At Annibale people have enjoyed a complete food & beverage service, from breakfast to aperitifs and various refreshments in between. All served using low impact environment-friendly materials.

To promote Annibale we inundated social networks with content. Our strategy for engagement and promotion was well under way long before the opening, with a teasing phase aimed at building the hype regards to the project. Through several sessions of social listening we pinpointed the digital communities in the Trieste district and from thereon we started circulating the news of a new project to regenerate the square. Thanks to word of mouth and digital PR, by opening day Annibale was already in fine form and ready to welcome thousands of people during the entire season. During the three months’ activity we kept our social network presence high with event promotions, news and content in live streaming of the initiatives.

Annibale has proved to be the demonstration of how a good dose of creativity and the right consultancy, planning and production capabilities can actualise an ambitious entrepreneurial project even at the height of a national health emergency. The reason for the success of Annibale lies in the partners who supported us during the development of the project, partners such as Sinestetica, CityLab, Palmerie Parioli e Agostino Corso Trieste, who activated a network of contacts and competencies which were the strong point of the project itself.