3.3 - Il Palazzo della Civilta’ Italiana The second example of prime Fascist architecture which will be analysed is the Palazzo della Civilta Italiana (PDCI). Constructed in 1938 as part of the EUR complex; a world fair trade where Mussolini was to display the official style of the Fascist regime. However, the start of the war left the plans unfinished until 1960 when the quarter was completed and re branded into a sports and business district. The structure’s design is an “abstract, modern stylization of the main architectural features of Roman architecture” (Jones and Pilat, 2020) with strong neo-classical roots it was positioned in the approximate vicinity of an ancient Roman archaeological site and purposefully designed to connect with the Roman empire and recall their strength and control over the Mediterranean as symbolism for the Fascist strength: “A constructed mythology that evoked Italy’s ancient heritage allowed the Fascist regime to justify its violence as a noble attempt to return to the glories of former Rome.” (Jones and Pilat, 2020) Having successfully achieved this. The PDCI is often referred to as the “square Colosseum” which is no surprise given the 4 identical façades composed of 216 arches deeply emblematic of classical Roman architecture. However, given the structure was built as a statement of Fascist innovation, beauty and greatness, it makes conservation of the heritage very challenging, especially when abiding to The Venice Charter since fascism is deeply embedded in both the tangible and intangible elements; the physical and semantic. Firstly, the structure wears an inscription on the front facade of the building, quoting an extract from Mussolini’s speech before the invasion of Ethiopia in 1935 where war crimes were committed by the Italian army. Secondly, the neoclassical style, as previously mentioned, assimilates Fascism with the greatness of the Roman empire. Lastly, the arches are displayed in a six
Figure 6 - Palazzo della Civilta’ Italiana front Facade - Meroni, A, 2022
by nine grid, representing the number of letters in “Benito Mussolini”. Not only the Fascist symbolism is very evident, but also impossible to remove through intervention given its deep relationship with the architectural form itself. Therefore any attempt at doing so would have detrimental impacts on the Authenticity, Integrity, Architectural, Historical and Aesthetic values. Therefore a different approach to conservation must be taken then the Casa del Fascio. This mainly considers indirect intervention used to change the meaning of the building and its symbolism without physically altering the architecture. This came through the form of literally re branding the symbolism through a new purpose/use: Article 5 of The Venice Charter “The conservation of monuments is always facilitated by making use of them for some socially useful purpose. Such use is therefore desirable but it must not change the lay-out or decoration of the building.” (Gazzola and Lemaire, 1964)
