Centro Studi Impianti Sportivi C. O. N. I.

The Centro Studi Impianti Sportivi C.O.N.I. (Study Center for Sports Facilities of the Italian National Olympic Committee) is a service center that takes care of the guidelines for the validation of projects and financing of the construction of sports facilities. For this purpose, the center collaborates with the IOC and international federations. It also develops documentation, processing, and information workflows for consultancy activities. It is located on the Foro Italico.

In this function, the Centro submitted the plans of the Olympic Stadium. In its original form, it was built in 1928-32 as Stadio dei Cipressi supporting Roma’s bid for the 1940 Olympic Games, according to plans by Enrico del Debbio (1881-1973) and Luigi Moretti. Only a few years later it was extended by Angelo Frisa and completed in 1937. A further extension was planned but could not be realized initially because of the outbreak of World War II.

The conversion into the Stadio dei Centomila, later renamed Olympic Stadium, was started on 28 December 1950 to foster the bid for the 1960 Roma Olympics. The leaders of the project were Cesare Valle, then director of the Centro Studi Impianti Sportivi C. O. N. I., and Prof. Carlo Roccatelli (?-1951). At the time, the planned stadium was considered as one of the world’s top sports facilities. However, the scarce financial resources and the characteristics of the local environment led to a less ambitious construction. After the death of Roccatelli, the architect Annibale Vitelozzi (1902-1990) took over the management.