Controversial Heritage - Issues in Contemporary Architecture Essay

3 - Case Study and Discussion 3.1 - Fascism in Italy Italy has been the home of civilizations since the 700s BCE, making it a very culturally rich and diverse place. (Macbeth, 2018) So much is evident by the sheer amount and size of heritage sights spread throughout both the metropolitan cities and urban landscapes; therefore conservation of monuments has always been a top priority and concern of the nation. However, not all its heritage necessarily paints Italy under a bright light: as of today, there are many Fascist buildings still standing, and given they cannot be displayed in a museum as was the case with Colston’s statue, a very thoroughly considered practice of conservation has to be carried out when dealing with such controversial structures.

Firstly, one must understand the historical and political context surrounding such heritage.

Fascism is a far right-wing political ideology characterised by dictatorial power, extreme nationalism and natural social hierarchy. It grew presence in Italy in 1922 under the rule of Benito Mussolini, who was the dictator until its fall in 1943.

During these 21 years (ventennio) Mussolini used architecture to lead the movement in Italy, imprinting Fascist ideologies on the landscape and developing a new architectural language; “No period of modern Italian history left a greater legacy of state-sponsored architecture than the ventennio.” (Jones and Pilat, 2020) However, architecture was not solely