Duality between the Fascist and the Romans, Matt Sundstrom

The paintings, photographs and artifacts in the Metropole/colony: Africa and Italy exhibition establishes a connection between the architecture and urban planning of the Fascist Empire with the historical Roman Empire. This duality offers a historical precedent for the architectural forms created during the Fascist era and justification for the Regimes rule.           

Plan for Addis Ababa 

The Plans for Addis Ababa, in Ethiopia and EUR or Esposizione Universale di Roma (Rome Universal Expo) were some of the most ambitious plans developed by Italian urban planners during the Fascist era. These plans were developed to demonstrate the modernity and prestige of the Fascist Empire while remaining true to Italy’s past ‘Roman’ history. For example the new plan for Addis Ababa portrays the Fascist Empire as a more superior civilized nation by its rectilinear symmetrical composition inspired by the urban plans of the Romans. The Plan for EUR is a more direct translation from Roman architecture by its use of orthogonal axes, traditional materials like marble and limestone, and composed of large stately buildings. The EUR complex was also intended to be the site of the next World’s Fair that would take place on the twentieth anniversary of Mussolini’s March on Rome, the event that signified the beginning of the Fascist Era.

The series of paintings done in 1937 (artist unknown) of an aircraft and an iconic Roman structure juxtapose modern technology and historic architecture. These paintings symbolize the Fascist Empires quest to conquer and control more colonies outside Italy and offer a historical precedent to model these new cities after.

The photographs of the Foro Mussolini, one of the dictator’s earliest efforts to exceed the architecture of his imperial predecessors suggest a direct parallel between the Fascist Empire and the ancient Roman history of Italy. It was inspired by Roman Forums and intended to be a preeminent masterpiece of Italian Fascist architecture instituted by Mussolini. It was the home to the Fascist Academy of Physical Education. In 1936, when Mussolini conquered Ethiopia and declared a new Roman empire, the Academy’s emphasis on health and fitness had come to imply battle-readiness.

            These examples in the exhibition clearly establish a duality between the Fascist era and Italy’s important ‘Roman’ history. The architecture and urban plans created during the Fascist period reference historical forms and present a continuity between the Roman Empire and the Fascist Empire. 

 Foro Mussolini