Palace of Italian Civilisation

The Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana was built as part of the Esposizione Universale Roma programme, initiated in 1935 by Benito Mussolini for the planned 1942 World's Fair and as a symbol of the fascist regime. In 1935, Italy requested to host the upcoming world's fair in 1941, but the date was moved to 1942, the twentieth anniversary of the fascist party taking control of Italy, by deliberately advertising the event as E'42.

Mussolini ultimately favoured the plan by architects Giovanni Guerrini, Ernesto Bruno La Padula and Mario Romano because of its rationalism. Construction began in 1938 and ended in 1943.

The progress of the building was documented by the fascist newsreel service Istituto Luce, which recorded various events, including Mussolini planting a tree on the site in 1937. The Palazzo was inaugurated on 30 November 1940 as the centrepiece of the Esposizione.

The world exhibition was cancelled on 3 June 1941, even though the building was complete. In 1942, the EUR was declared a dead end, and in 1943, the fascist regime fell. The Palazzo stood empty and abandoned for more than ten years after the aftermath of World War II. The building became the backdrop for post-war cinema, characterised as an outdated structure, symbolic of the demise of the fascist regime.

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Source

• Text: TracesOfWar
• Photos: Ferdinand Bovenschen