From Fascism to Fashion?

John Hill

18. February 2015

Palazzo della Civiltà del Lavoro (Photo: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra/Flickr)

Roman authorities are reportedly selling four buildings in the historic EUR district, including the Palazzo della Civiltà del Lavoro to fashion house Fendi, to help pay for "The Cloud" conference center designed by Massimiliano Fuksas.

Built partially to plans by Benito Mussolini for the 1942 world's fair, the EUR (Esposizione Universale Roma) district is home to a number of modern buildings designed as abstractions of ancient Roman structures. The most well known building is the Palazzo della Civiltà del Lavoro from 1938, aka the "Square Colosseum," due to the pared down arches that ring the building. Fendi currently rents space in the building and has offered €50 million to purchase it outright, or about a fifth of what the city wants to raise to pay for the Fuksas building now under construction.

Yet, according to The Guardian:

The idea to sell off the building has been criticized at city hall, which owns 10% of EUR SpA to the finance ministry’s 90%. Giovanni Caudo, an architect and counselor, said it would be impossible to sell the Square Colosseum.

"At the moment, selling the Colosseum to a private company is absolutely not a consideration. ... Borghini is the president of the EUR SpA, but the municipality disagrees with the sale. I think it’s only to put media pressure on the state."

Fuksas won a 2000 competition for the building, whose boxy yet glass exterior relates to the EUR context while the interior features the cloud-like auditorium. Under construction since 2007, the building remains unfinished due to cost overruns and EUR SpA's shortage of cash.