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.
