Acquario Romano, Palazzo in Esquilino, Rome, Italy

The Acquario Romano is an elliptical, classically styled building by Ettore Bernich, erected between 1885 and 1887 on Piazza Manfredo Fanti. Its pronaos carries aediculas with marine-themed decoration set among the statues, and medallions sit between the caryatids. Semicolumns and pilasters divide the elliptical body, and a small garden with Roman remains surrounds it.

Built between 1885 and 1887 under architect Ettore Bernich's design, the building originally opened as a public aquarium serving the city. It later transitioned to theater storage before becoming the architecture center it is today.

Since 2002 the building has housed the Casa dell'Architettura, run by the City of Rome with the Ordine degli Architetti di Roma. It also serves as a venue for conventions, company dinners, product presentations, performances, film shoots and fashion shows.

The building faces Piazza Manfredo Fanti, an open square left free of housing so the aquarium could stand in a garden on the model of Parisian squares. The surrounding garden, once laid out with a pond and small bridges, is part of the visit; the elliptical hall is entered from the square.

The aquarium was the idea of the ichthyologist Pietro Garganico, who around 1880 proposed a fish-farming station and aquarium to the city, first planned for Via Nazionale. In 1882 the municipality granted him free use of the green space of Piazza Manfredo Fanti, where the building rose between 1885 and 1887.