The late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid was famously known for her love of architectural curves and the rejection of right angles in her designs. Thus, the last place one might expect to see her work is inside a 16th-century Italian palazzo, where linear symmetry is a most valued attribute. However surprising, it is now a reality on Romes intimate Via di Ripetta, one of the radial streets originating at the Piazza del Popolo. Having begun design phases before Hadids untimely 2016 death, but with construction completed in December 2024, the 74-room Romeo Roma hotel is Zaha Hadid Architectss (ZHA) first-ever adaptive reuse design and one of her last projects. Inside its orderly landmarked facade is a sweeping interior of the architects signature space-age arcs, rendered in wood, stone, brass, and Hadid signature white solid surface and set in playful conversation with the historic shell. Hadid was commissioned specifically for her ability to provide this stark design contrast to the formal building, once the home of the noble Serroberti-Capponi family, then headquarters for the Jesuit magazine Civilt Cattolica, and since 1951, housing the Italian governments Istituto Nazionale Assistenza Infortuni sul Lavoro (National Institute for Assistance of Accidents at Work). Zaha Hadid, with her unique vision, was the ideal person to reinterpret a historic building, transforming it into a contemporary work that honored the past while maintaining a forward-looking perspective, said Alfredo Romeo, the Neapolitan owner of the boutique Romeo Collection hotel group, which acquired the palazzo in 2012. The first design meeting with Hadid was in 2015.Prior its conversion to a hotel, the building was the home of the noble Serroberti-Capponi family, s headquarters for a Jesuit magazine, and government offices. (Jacopo Spilimbergo)After many iterations, thinking about the structural elements of buildings of every age in Rome, we came up with this very simple idea: vaults, said ZHA project director and Rome native Paola Cattarin, who led in her former bosss posthumous stead. We started to geometrically transform vaults with 3D digital tools, intersecting them and deforming them from a Euclidean geometry to a more complex one. In a barrel-vaulted hallway, a stream of stainless-steel filigree overhead give a hint of architectural change. (Jacopo Spilimbergo)The reception space was clad in golden brass scales. (Chris Dalton)Not only did this conceit help create the curvilinear forms with integrated lighting that flow throughout the hotels lobby, spa, gym, and restaurant by Michelin-starred French chef Alain Ducasse, but it also enabled us to create this kind of second skin within the guest rooms that allows us to give a clear identity to each space but also hide all the mechanical and electrical systems without touching the existing building, preserving as much of it as possible, Cattarin added. In the accommodations, custom furnishings are rendered in lacquered American walnut or Makassar ebony and solid surface Krion by Porcelenosa, including jacuzzi-style bathtubs, water vapor fireplaces, and large, plush beds. Building bespoke shapes with these exotic materials presented a learning curve not only for the architects but also for the contractors, she noted, and required rigorous testing and mockups to assure every detail. The hotel also has four double-height rooms on its historic piano nobile that feature original 17th-century frescoes and painted ceilings, all of which have been restored.The hotel restaurant adopts the signature Zaha Hadid forms and curves. (Chris Dalton)During construction, an ancient Roman wall and the ruins of a likely 2,000-year-old workshop were found underneath the garden courtyard, significantly slowing the building process. The ruins are now visible through a glass vitrine in the spas below-grade level and through the glass-bottomed swimming pool above. Other archeological artifacts found, including a well-preserved marble bust of Livia Drusilla, Augustuss wife, are on display throughout the hotel alongside contemporary artworks from Romeos own eclectic collection. The hotel has four rooms that feature original 17th-century frescoes and painted ceilings. (Chris Dalton)Custom furnishings are rendered in lacquered American walnut or Makassar ebony. (Chris Dalton)The hotel encompasses three structurestwo additions were previously added to the family palazzoand each has different proportions and floor heights. We took those as opportunities to create a sense of discovery within the design, said Cattarin. Walking through the front door and into a barrel-vaulted hallway toward the open-air cortile of the oldest building (now covered by a retractable roof), a stream of stainless-steel filigree overhead gives a hint of architectural change. Once one is whisked to a petal-like check-in desk inside a room clad in golden brass scales, it is clear contemporary design has won over history. Although, ascending the processional staircase to the left, it might again be the 1500s.Ancient ruins were found underneath the garden courtyard and are now visible through a glass vitrine in the spas below-grade level and through the glass-bottomed swimming pool above. (Chris Dalton)Hadids use of free forms and innovative lines, in contrast to the rigidity and symmetry of the historic building, gave rise to a design that links the past and the present in a way that few projects could achieve, described Romeo Collection project manager Ivan Russo. If you ever get lost within this avant-garde mishmash, look down: Lava stone and ebony floors are inlaid with undulating strips of Carrara marble to guide you from old to new.Elizabeth Fazzare is a New Yorkbased editor and journalist who covers architecture, design, culture, and travel for publications includingArchitectural Digest,Dwell, andInterior Design. She was previously the senior architecture and design editor atCulturedmagazine, and an editor atArchitectural Digest.