WIFS 2024 will be hosted by the Department of Industrial, Electronic and Mechanical Engineering (DIIEM) of Roma Tre University, located in Via V. Volterra 62, 00146, Rome, Italy. The venue is close (about 800m) to the stops “Marconi” and “Basilica S. Paolo” of the Line B Metro of Rome.
The main venue will be the Conference Room of the DIIEM, able to accommodate up to 160 attendees.
The building in which the DIIEM is located is a virtuous example of sustainability and infrastructure recovery. It has been in fact recently built recovering the premises of the old “National tank for naval architecture experiments”, used in the 1930s for testing hulls and propellers.
Convenient facilities available in the building include:
- a large Foyer, located nearby the Conference Room, where up to 200 people can gather, that will be used for coffee breaks and to organize poster sessions;
- a modern meeting room, with a “meeting area” equipped with a meeting table that can accommodate up to 15 people, and a “conference area” equipped with a speaker desk, an 80-inch monitor, and armchairs to accommodate up to 40 persons, which will be used for tutorials and meetings.
The whole building is equipped with high-speed wireless Internet connection, and several power sockets are available in the Conference Room, the Foyer, and the meeting room.
District
The venue is located in the Ostiense District of Rome, a dynamic neighborhood that seamlessly blends history, culture, and modernity. Steeped in ancient Roman history, the district’s name is derived from the Via Ostiense, an ancient road connecting Rome to the bustling port city of Ostia Antica. Ostiense is characterized by its industrial charm, with repurposed factories and warehouses transformed into contemporary art galleries, trendy bars, and innovative start-up spaces. Roma Tre University itself, whose thirtieth anniversary of its foundation occurs in 2023, was born with the aim of transforming and reusing the pre-existing industrial structures distributed throughout the territory.
The area hosts significant archaeological sites, such as the iconic Pyramid of Cestius (inspiration for the symbol of Roma Tre University) and the Baths of Caracalla, the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls (one of the four papal basilicas of Rome), as well as the Non-Catholic Cemetery of Rome (where English Poets John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley, America Beat Poet Gregory Corso, and Italian Philosopher and Founder of the Italian Communist party Antonio Gramsci are buried, along with a long list of other famous characters), which add a sense of grandeur to the district’s atmosphere.
In addition to its rich history, Ostiense boasts a lively food scene, with a wide array of restaurants serving both traditional Roman dishes and international cuisine. The neighborhood has recently undergone numerous renovations, which have transformed it into one of the most modern, trendy, and eclectic areas of Rome, also named in the top 10 list of Europe’s coolest neighbourhoods by the British newspaper The Guardian in 2020.
The area borders the EUR district, originally built to host the 1942 World Exposition, designed according to the dictates of Rationalist architecture, thus characterized by monumental buildings, such as the “Square Colosseum” with its striking white marble façade, grand boulevards which annually host a urban Formula E grand prix, and also home to several parks and green spaces, providing a refreshing contrast to the bustling urban environment.
