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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. To see some still shots of the Palazzo della
Civilita please see the Rome Photo Gallery
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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