B2b

,

Architecture

B2b

A Project of Resistance: Queer urban spaces exist in the intimate and in-between.

2026

Award: Paul and Lynn Mankins Rome Studio Prize - 2nd Runner Up Studio: Rome Program House of Rights Site: Rome, Italy Instructors: Matilde Mellini, Lavinia Minnciacchi, Consuelo Nuñez Ciuffa Collaborators: Olivia Maasdam, Jordan Niezing

A concrete bench sitting next to a cement wall — editorial architecture image 1 for "Concrete Hours"
A concrete bench sitting next to a cement wall — editorial architecture image 1 for "Concrete Hours"

Located in Rome’s Monti neighborhood, B2b transforms the House of Rights into a civic hub for the LGBTQIA+ community, combining emergency, permanent, and co-living housing with spaces for care, connection, and collective expression.

Inspired by ballroom culture rooted in Black and Latinx queer communities of New York City, the project translates ideas of chosen family, identity, and celebration into architecture. A sequence of courtyards reconnects the historic site to a new public garden, while spaces for performance, making, and gathering place queer life at the center of Rome.

A concrete bench sitting next to a cement wall — editorial architecture image 1 for "Concrete Hours"white and black abstract paintingA diagonal beam of sunlight illuminates a tiled wall.worms eye view of building during daytimeGrayscale photo of concrete stairs — editorial architecture image 5 for "Concrete Hours"White wooden staircase with white wooden railings — editorial architecture image 6 for "Concrete Hours"white concrete buildinglow angle photo of beige concrete building under cloudy skyclear glass building

Selected work

A close up of a woman's face with a blurry background — editorial portraiture image 1 for "Close to the Light"

Mycotory

Worm's eye view of black building — editorial architecture image 1 for "Lines of Arrival"

Papertown

low-angle photography of four high-rise buildings

Haven

Transcendent