From June 5 to September 29, 2025, Villa Medici is hosting the fourth edition of the Festival des Cabanes.
Villa Medici kicked off the fourth edition of the Festival des Cabanes, an artistic program that allows five different groups to showcase their architectural creations.
The festival invites five teams to design and present small-scale structures, or cabanes, that spark conversation around contemporary architecture, sustainability, and the intersection of art and nature.
This year’s teams, Associates Architecture, Atelier MARE, Campo & Diploma 20 Architectural Association with artist Roger Ballen, Huttopia, and MBL architectes, were to reflect on the theme of the cabane, or hut, as a space for innovation and sustainability.
@Daniele Molajoli
The concept behind the cabane serves as a creative starting point, prompting architects, designers, artists, and landscape architects to ask important questions: How can we build in ways that are gentle on the environment? What might sustainable living look like in the future?
The cabanes, constructed from wood, steel, brick, and even recycled materials, are placed throughout the quadrati, the rectangular garden plots of Villa Medici. These areas, framed by laurel, holm oak, myrtle, and boxwood, and shaded by nearly 200-year-old pine trees, offer visitors a new way to engage with the historic grounds.
Walking from one cabin to another creates an immersive experience of architecture and landscape, set against the stunning backdrop of Rome.
For those visiting Rome this summer, Festival des Cabanes offers a refreshing and thought-provoking break from traditional sightseeing. It’s a chance to see how contemporary creative minds are reimagining space, right in the heart of one of the city’s most iconic cultural landmarks.
The festival lasts until Sept. 29, so be sure to witness the intelligent and artistically inspiring cabanes at Villa Medici.
The cabins
Associates Architecture (Brescia, IT) has conceived a habitable enclosure in dual dialogue with the panoramic view over Rome and the historic pines of Villa Medici’s gardens, multiplying viewpoints and observational interplay. It is presented in parallel with the exhibition of Louis Le Masson’s Panorama (1779).
Atelier MARE (Marseille, FR) offers a cabane that combines craftmanship with innovation, inviting us to rediscover the wealth of techniques and uses of canne de Provence (giant cane), formerly widespread on the shores of the Mediterranean.
Campo & Diploma 20 Architectural Association (Rome, IT and London, UK), with the participation of artist Roger Ballen (Johannesburg, ZA) are together creating a cluster that eliminates the boundaries between reality and fiction, dream and nightmare.
Huttopia Foundation with Théo Karmarrec, Pierre Robion and Charles Waltmann (Lyon, FR) has planned a modular, demountable cabane, a reinterpretation of the prefabricated houses of the 1950s, in response to contemporary thinking on light, responsible housing and its application to the tourism industry.
MBL architectes (Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, FR) have designed a shaded reading pavilion for the Librairie 7L, consisting of a wide brick roof tied to a wood and metal frame. MBL architectes’intervention extends to Villa Medici’s bookshop, redesigned in collaboration with the Librairie 7L to offer a selection of books on art, architecture, and landscape.
5 June – 29 September 2025
Address:
Villa Medici
Viale della Trinità dei Monti, 1, Roma
Opening times:
Mon – Sun (closed on Tuesdays): 10am-7pm
Last entry at 6:30pm
Tickets:
Full Price €8
Reduced Price €6
