Mussolini’s Last Laugh: How Fascist Architecture Still Dominates Rome
Iconic thoroughfares, a fashion house’s headquarters, monstrous memorials—Mussolini may have had a famously ignominious manner of dying, but his architectural legacy lives on.
Barbie Latza Nadeau
06.30.18 12:00 AM ET
ROME—Benito Mussolini was just 39 years old when he conquered Rome as Italy’s youngest-ever prime minister. What started as a desire to leave his mark on the eternal city metastasized into full blown dictatorial egomania and soon he was bulldozing ancient Roman ruins tearing down centuries-old fortification walls to create what he dreamed would be the terza Roma or third Rome.
While his name has been scratched out or sculpted over most of what he had hoped would be immortalized, there are still countless fascist remnants in the Italian capital today, from his former home in the Villa Torlonia to the United Nations headquarters for its Food and Agriculture Organization. Many blend in so seamlessly, it’s easy to forget what they once stood for. But Romans have no intention of erasing any aspect of their city’s past. Instead, the fascist era and its architecture have just become another layer in Rome’s multi-faceted history.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/mussolinis-last-laugh-how-fascist-architecture-still-dominates-rome
