Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana

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Il Palazzo of the Italian Civilization

The Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, also known as the Palazzo della Civiltà del Lavoro or simply the Colosseo Quadrato (Square Colosseum), is now considered an architectural icon of twentieth-century Rome. It lies in the district of Rome known as the Esposizione Universale Roma (commonly abbreviated by Italians 'E42' and 'EUR', though this is now confusable with various organs of the European Union) and can be considered the symbol of this district, exemplifying its monumentality.

Its architectural style is called simplified neoclassicism. Marcello Piacentini was the coordinator of the commission for E42, based it on Italian Rationalism of Pagano, Libera, and Michelucci, anch'essi between the planners of the new district. Planned by the architects Giovanni Guerrini, Ernesto Bruno La Padula and Mario Romano, the palace was constructed between 1938 and 1943. It was inaugurated on 30 November 1940 although the work was still incomplete. The plan was imposing: the base was 8,400 square meters, its volume 205,000 cubic meters, its height 50 meters, (68 meters including its base).

The Square Colosseum , as can be intuited from the nickname with which it is famous, was intended by Benito Mussolini, is inspired more to celebrate the Colosseum, resuming of the architecture characterized from rows of arches: it has 6 horizontal rows of 9 arches ciascuna. This was chosen numerologically based on the name of the Fascist dictator: the name 'Benito' has six letters and 'Mussolini', nine. The Palace, entirely covered in travertine marble, as is characteristic of all the quarter, is a parallelepiped on a square base to six plans, and rises on a podium with two gradinate placed to the two high opposite ones. At the four corners of the podium are placed four equestrian sculptural groups representing the Dioscuri, the two mythical Greek heroes, sons of Zeus and Leda, realized from Publio Morbiducci and Alberto de Felci. Under the fornici of pian the land, instead, they are placed, 28 statues (one for arc) that they illustrate limbs and trades: high approximately 3,40 meters, they have been realized in the 1942 from eight companies specialized in the working of the marble, coming from from province of Lucca and the Carrara Mass. The statues represent, leaving from the door of income from left in hour sense, Heroism, Music, Handicrafts, political Genius, the social Order, Labor, Agriculture, Philosophy, Commerce, Industry, Archaeology, Astronomy, History, inventive Genius, Architecture, the Right, the Supremacy of navigation, Sculpture, Mathematics, the Genius of the Theatre, Chemistry, Stampa, Medicine, Geography, Physics, the Genius of Poetry, Painting, and the Corps of Engineers. On the attic of all and the four facades there is an inscription in capital letters: