Jean Nouvel designed The Rooms of Rome, the luxury apartments at palazzo rhinoceros managed by Kike Sarasola

Caviar Kaspia arrives in Rome to become part of this exceptional proposal, including the most magnificent views of the historic caput mundi

The Rooms of Rome a unique experience that offers personalized stays in which art and architecture have no boundaries, has just arrived in the most historical part of the city. The 24 apartmentsare located in “rhinoceros” a historic palace conceived by the Fondazione Alda Fendi -Esperimenti and have been designed and furnished by the great architect Jean Nouvel.

These special and unique fully equipped apartments, each with its own distinctive layout and design and each named with the word “thought”, “pensiero” or “pensée” in 24 different languages -from English to Farsi -, offer state of the art of technology and domotics while respecting the building's history and background.

The apartments have also been conceived to create a personalized stay, offering an infinite range of possibilities when visiting the Eternal City. Therefore, anyone experiencing The Rooms of Rome can create a truly exclusive feeling based on each person's needs, dreams and wishes. While the apartments will provide L’Occitane amenities, a pillow menu, as well as the highest quality linens and furnishings, guests will be able to choose, prior to their check - in, from a wide variety of perfumes for their room, as well asto become aware ofadditional experiences, provided “à la carte” by our commercial partners, which include absolutely everything a person might need, from beauty treatments and massages, to any type of lessons or training, to show cooking, entertainment, museum and city private tours and even art creation.

Kike Sarasola, the Spanish visionary entrepreneur who has been entrusted to manage and take care of the The Rooms of Rome and Caviar Kaspia Roma, has said about the project: “Taking part of this extraordinary project with the creation of a mastermind like Jean Nouvel, with the artistic passion of the Fondazione Alda Fendi - Esperimenti and with the gastronomic excellence of Caviar Kaspia is definitely an honor. I’m absolutely certain that entering the world of art, gastronomy and high-end hospitality will bring nothing but success to this marvelous experience. Actually, The Rooms of Rome is just the beginning of one of my upcoming projects, The Rooms of the World, that will take the most exceptional experiences to many cities across Europe and the world”.

Jean Nouvel and The Rooms of Rome architecture

Here, where Roman history was born, Jean Nouvel imagined the apartments as a completely innovative place: designing them not as living spaces in the traditional sense but constituting “openable” areas, steel boxes that reproduce environments and services such as kitchens, bathrooms or cabinets, designed and patented only for the rhinoceros building, whose refined modernity stands in stark contrast to the walls.

From each window of the apartments, which develop on four floors, one enjoys a unique and different view of the monuments of the Forum Boarium: The Arch of Janus, the splendid church of San Giorgio al Velabro, the temple of Hercules Victor, known as the Temple of Vesta, and the Palatine Hill.

Respecting the stratifications of history and in an attempt to transmitthe past views, Jean Nouvel has covered all the windows with panels depicting the spaces before the renovation work: huge trompe-l’oeils that take the light from the outside absorbing and irradiating it and that, when illuminated at night, create an effect of lights and shadows transforming the building into a luminous installation in the night-time Rome.

The passage of time, Roman history, modernity and a never-ending construction are the spirit of the “The Rooms of Rome” apartments.

rhinoceros and the Fondazione Alda Fendi - Esperimenti

rhinoceros, created by the Fondazione Alda Fendi -Esperimenti, represents the synthesis of the Foundation's philosophy that since 2001 has promoted artistic experimentations that go beyond the conventional boundaries between the disciplines: exhibitions, multimedia creations, action, artistic interferences involving different experiential areas, visual and performing arts.

“rhinoceros is the experiment conceived by the Fondazione Alda Fendi - Esperimenti: a real “city of art”: a place to visit through the passageways of the art gallery, to live in its magnificent 24 apartmentsimmersed in the heart of ancient Rome, there were Rome was born, and to be admired for the atmosphere of its dreamy terraces. A hub of attraction, a lighthouse illuminated day and night, where artistic research and creativity find their ideal home”.

The very name palazzo rhinoceros is an indication towards the world of imperial Rome - caput mundi-, where the rhinoceros’, strong and powerful, steered the crowds to the benevolence of the emperor.

Caviar Kaspia Roma, the best gastronomy from Paris to Ancient Rome

Also located at the fifth and sixth floors of the palazzo rhinoceros and connected to the exhibition gallery spaces of the Fondazione Alda Fendi - Esperimenti is Caviar Kaspia Roma, a Russian inspired gastronomic proposal with over 90 years of history. The brand, that is already present in the most cosmopolitan cities around the world, arrives in Rome as the gallery restaurant, offering selected products such as Norwegian salmon, imperial crab and the inevitable caviar.

Romans and city visitors will be able to enjoy an amplemenu during the day, with adaptable proposals such as blinis, croissants, focaccias and tartars.

A selection of more structured dishes, created by the chef Giovanni Giammarino, will be available for dinner, including Italian inspired cuisinelike the ravioli di parmigianoreggiano, gel di melograno e caviale; the linguine tartufo e bottarga; and the risotto allaclorofila di erbefini e granchio.

All the gastronomic proposals will be paired up with the best wines as well as with the most magnificent views of classical Rome since the location also featuresthree panoramic terraces overlooking the Forum Boarium, the Arch of Janus, the splendid church of San Giorgio al Velabro, the temple of Hercules Victor (known as the Temple of Vesta), the piazza della Bocca dellaVerità as well as the famous Roman hills and their domes and historic houses, churches, Roman ruins and all the stratifications of history. Like a ship, the terrace on the sixth and last floor seems to float and fly over the Palatine domus.

The interiors of Caviar Kaspia Roma also have large windows that overlook the Forum and rectangular mirrors have been placed along the entire length of the wall so guests can always enjoy the outside views.

Kike Sarasola and The Rooms of the World

Kike Sarasola, Gold Medal by Spain's Ministry of Tourism, is a trendsetting pioneer in the industry thanks to his visionary, disruptive and rebellious character. He is President and Founder of the successful Room Mate Group, which includes hotels, apartments, hotelier consultancy services and, now, The Rooms of the World.

Room Mate Hotels currently operates 24 hotels in 14 cities worldwide, including Room Mate Giulia in Milan and Room Mate Isabella and Room Mate Luca in Florence. The group has recently signed 12 new hotels that will open in the next 18 months, 6 of which will be in Italy: 4 in Rome, one in Naples and another one in Milan. Room Mate Hotels always collaborates with the most prestigious interior designers around the globe, among which are Patricia Urquiola, Lázaro Rosa - Violán and Teresa Sapey.

Kike competed and has three Olympic equestrian diplomas in Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney and is five times Spanish Champion and Bronze Medallist in the 2001 European Championships; he authored the acclaimed book, More Ideas, Less MBA's and is regarded as one of Spain's most influential business people in social media. Furthermore, over the past year, Sarasola has been invited to lecture at over 100 conferences worldwide.

Source: Kike Sarasola
Read more news related Jean Nouvel published at Infurma