This structure, which today is lost among other buildings of the Roman EUR district does not completely impart the architectural and urban planning idea of its creators: Ernesto Bruno La Padula, Giovanni Guerrini and Mario Romano, who under the watchful eye of the creator of EUR – Marcello Piacentini won the competition for the creation this building (1936), of which Piacentini was the head judge. The building was erected at the highest point of the newly built district, which initially was to serve as the location for the organization of the World Fair planned for 1942. That year the Fascist government was also preparing the grand celebration of the 20-year anniversary of assuming power (March on Rome, 1922), so it should come as no surprise that the building which was one of the most significant elements of the whole urban planning arrangements, was to fulfill an important role. It was planned as the Palace of Italian Civilization (Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana) and it was to be used by the Fascist government to direct the world’s attention to the centuries-long tradition of Italian civilization, but also to the living, modern architecture of contemporary Italy. As opposed to the world fairs which had been organized until now, the structure which was erected for this event was not going to be torn down. It was to be used by the Romans – as an ideal town and the proof of the devotion of Duce towards his compatriots, offering them a place to live in comfortable, low villas, among the lush greenery of parks, gardens and gushing fountains with an easy access to the center of the capital in form of a suburban metro. It was all excellently though-out, while the representative buildings of the EUR, including the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, placed on the edges of intersecting axes, were the carriers of significance – symbols of the new order. Planned with precision and with the usage of solid and noble materials, they emphasized Italian mastery in the fields of architecture and construction.

Therefore, the structure had to be truly exceptional. For the architects responsible for its creation this exceptionality meant the beauty of the pure form, tying in with the Roman Colosseum. However, it could not be hidden that the building created out of reinforced concrete surrounded with slightly less than functional, yet picturesque travertine terraces in the form of repeating arcades, from the very beginning carried a propaganda message. According to initial plans the elevations were to be filled with openings – eleven horizontally and seven vertically. Ultimately the design was changed. The number of vertical arcades was reduced to six, while the horizontal ones to nine. Why? Was the reason for such far-reaching interference the want to capture better proportions, or perhaps the coded signature of Duce himself (the number of letters: 6 – Benito, 9- Mussolini). Initially without cornice, in time the building was enriched by a high attic, of which the only task was to create (on four identical façades of the building) a place to immortalize in stone, the words of Mussolini. In translation to English they are worded as such: “One nation of poets, artists, heroes, saints, thinkers, scientists, navigators and travelers.” On 2 October, 1935 Duce shouted them from the balcony of the Palazzo Venezia to a crowd of gathered enthusiasts, upon receiving the news that the League of Nations imposed economic sanctions on the Italian state. They were a response to the aggression of Italy on Abyssinia, while Duce in his speech ensured the Italians, that a nation of the aforementioned “poets, artists, heroes etc. …” shall not bow down to the pressure and will  give proof to the strength of its character and its universal abilities. These sanctions left Italy without supply of iron and cement, and in turn the reinforced concrete necessary for construction works, which was a significant blow to the rapidly developing construction industry at that time. The Square Colosseum was also a response to this challenge, an evidence that Italians can cope with their own problems, using their local natural resources (travertine, marble) and in this way returning to the glorious monuments of its history. These were also returned to by placing in the arcades on the ground floor, 26 statues with an allegorical overtone, referencing the virtues and achievements of Italians in the fields of navigation, music, craftsmanship, sculpture, political genius, social order, work, agriculture etc. Military genius was also not forgotten, and neither were law and the press, which was rather bizarre in a state where free press did not exist, while the rights of citizens were violated. If that was not enough, on a travertine pedestal, on which the building was situated, groups of sculptures by Publio Morbiducci and Alberto Felci, were placed in its four corners, representing the Dioscuri Brothers. The sculptors patterned themselves on the statues from the Baths of Emperor Constantine, which in modern times were adapted as elements of a fountain located opposite the Roman Palazzo Quirinale (Fontana dei Dioscuri). And it is they, Pollux and Castor, the guardians of sailors and warriors, with horses always by their side, who stand guard at the newly recreated Roman Empire with Mussolini as the leader at its helm.

The construction of the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana was started in 1938, and the building survived the war unfinished, although the Romans did not experience the war until 1943. Initially it was annexed by the Germans who occupied the city, then allied forces were stationed there, while after the war the building deteriorated all the way until the 1960s. It was then, that a new age began for the EUR district. Numerous office buildings were put up, while the Square Colosseum itself was brought back to life. In the later period of an ever-growing anti-fascist criticism the building was ironically referred to as Palazzo della Groviera, since it was reminiscent of the holes in Swiss cheese (gruyere). But even then, it aroused unfaltering admiration and nostalgia of Italians, also among, as it would seem, opponents of Fascism. It is shown in the films of Roberto Rossellini (Rome – An Open City), Federico Fellini (Eight and a Half, Baccaccio ’70), Michelangelo Antonioni (The Eclipse), or Peter Greenaway (The Architect’s Belly), to mention but a few great directors.

And just when it seemed that this building would be forgotten, in 2013 it was rented out by the Fendi company, using it as residence for its brand for the upcoming 15 years. The building was thoroughly restored and enriched with lights illuminating the elevation which attract attention from afar, making the structure a truly surrealistic artistic creation. On the ground floor an art gallery accessible to the public, was opened.

This building must definitely be seen, especially at night and its alluring beauty must be pondered. Perhaps it will allow us to better understand the fascination of Italians with their leader and his ideology.

Also see: category Virtual trip, Colosseo quadrato