The
E.U.R. Project was initiated in the 1920's - financed
and inspired by the fascist Mussolini Government of
the period the project was never completed - the second
world war and summary execution of Mussolini put a stop
to his plans. Nevertheless, E.U.R. remains one of the
most fascinating areas of Rome and its' surreal architecture
has inspired many modern artists including Di Chirico
many of whose paintings were inspired by this surreal
area of Rome. This particular building the Palazzo della
Civilita or il Colosseo Quadrato (square collosseum)
as it is popularly known was the work of Guerrini. Commissioned
and completed in the early thirties The architectural
style is technically known as "bombastic modernism"
but in everyday language it is fascist...
Indeed EU.R. is
full of fascist inspired architecture with the Palazzo
della Civilita being one of the f most famous buildings
in E.U.R and Rome. Recently il Colosseo Quadrato was
used by a major sports company for a TV commercial which
outraged Rome's cultural minister and benefactor of
the arts. Now unused the building is a relic to a less
than illustrious past and it is almost impossible to
find any books on fascist architecture from this period.
Did you know?
Like many of the government buildings in E.U.R. it was
never used and lies empty to this date.
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