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- Title
DISSONANT HERITAGE: DECODING THE HISTORICAL NARRATIVE OF RATIONALIST ARCHITECTURE IN FASCIST ITALY.
- Authors
Ciarkowski, Błażej
- Abstract
Modernist architecture in fascist Italy, unlike in the Third Reich and the Soviet Union, was not perceived as unworthy. Quite the contrary, rationalist architecture became a part of state propaganda. According to Marco De Michelis, Mussolini was aware of the great potential hidden in the connection between modernism and imperial monumentality. At the same time, the issue of ethic values of architecture was discussed. In 1931 Pietro Maria Bardi openly admitted: "Fascist architecture and fascist town planning are in need of moral intervention. Everything in the way of architecture should be rigorously supervised and screened and strict judgement should be made in the name of the idea of moralization in Italy envisioned by Mussolini". Mussolini's architectural policy was a complex phenomenon. Marcello Piacentini's buildings in Rome were monumental architecture of power. Whereas, on the other hand, rationalist architects designed much smaller, modern buildings across the entire Italy (for example, Homes for Mother and Child or post offices). Although modernist buildings did not have many details with symbolic meaning, they clearly fulfilled the program of the Fascist Party. Richard Ettlin called them "the secular churches of the Fascist state". Nowadays, the architecture of the fascist era appears to become a dissonant heritage. Its specific architectural code impacts on the process of preservation and/or destruction. Although these buildings frequently have a high artistic value, the historical aspects weigh on their present state.
- Subjects
ITALY; MODERN movement (Architecture); FASCIST aesthetics; ITALIAN history, 1922-1945; FASCISM in Italy; ARCHITECTURE
- Publication
Acta Academiae Artium Vilnensis, 2017, Issue 86/87, p319
- ISSN
1392-0316
- Publication type
Article