Marcello Piacentini (1881 – 1961) Italy’s Fascist Architect

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Victory Monument by Marcello Piacentini
Victory Monument by Marcello Piacentini

Marcello Piacentini (1881–1961) was an Italian urban theorist and one of the leading proponents of Italian Fascist architecture.

Education

He studied at the Accademia di San Luca, Rome.

Biography

He was born in Rome, the son of architect Pio Piacentini. At 26, he was hired to redesign Bergamo’s historic centre and worked extensively throughout Italy. His most notable works, however, were commissioned by the Fascist government in Rome. Piacentini developed a style that blended elements of rationalism from the Gruppo 7, which included Giuseppe Terragni and Adalberto Libera, with the neoclassical influences of the Novecento Italiano group, led by Gio Ponti.

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Two of his most renowned projects in Rome were the new university campus (Università di Roma La Sapienza, 1932) and the E.U.R. district, where he not only served as the designer but also held the esteemed position of High Commissar, appointed by Benito Mussolini. These structures became prominent examples of Fascist architecture in Rome. Piacentini’s achievements also encompassed the restoration of the Rome Opera House (1928–1958) and projects in Brescia, Livorno, and the Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia in Reggio Calabria.

Milano - Mailand: Palazzo di Giustizia - Justizpalast

Piacentini gained recognition as a colonial architect, particularly in Eastern Libya’s Cyrenaica region. During Italy’s colonial era in the 1920s, he embraced the prevalent Neo-Moorish style, showcased in his Albergo Italia and the Berenice Theatre in Benghazi. Piacentini served as the project manager for all Italian construction endeavours in Cyrenaica. He made significant contributions to academia, serving as the president of La Sapienza University and working as a professor of urban planning there.

After the fall of the fascist government, Piacentini ceased practising architecture for several years and died in Rome.

Fascist 1960s Commissions

He was involved with the Fascists and their ill-defined architectural pursuits that combined the Novecento Itali- ano with neo-Classicism. His close alignment with the Fascists created numerous commissions. In Rome, he designed the buildings;

  • 1911 ‘Esposizione Nazionale per il Cinquantenario dell’Unita d’Italia’, proposed a redesign (with Armando Brasini) of the curved side of the Piazza Navona,
  • 1914—15 remodelling of the Quirino Theater,
  • 1915—18 ‘Corso Cinema-Theater’ (with Giorgio Wenter-Marini) in the Piazza San Lorenzo in Lucina,
  • 1921 Villetta Novili (near Rome),
  • 1921 prize-winning design of the Insti- tuto Nazionale per Instruzione Professionale,
  • 1922 apartment at 42 Viale Parioli (now Viale Liegi),
  • 1924 apartment building in the via Flaminia,
  • 1925 “Grande Roma’ (utopian version of Rome) project,
  • 1926 Hotel Ambasciatori,
  • 1928 Casa Madre dei Mutilati,
  • 1931 Theatro Barbarini,
  • 1931—34 Church of Cristo Re,
  • 1932 via Regina Elena,
  • 1932 via della Conciliazione (with Attilio Spaccarelli),
  • 1932—35 ‘Citta Universitaria’ (with Pietro Aschieri, Giuseppe Capponi, Arnaldo Foschini, Giovanni Michelucci, Gaetano Minnucci, Eugenio Montuori, Gio Ponti, and Faetano Rapisardi),
  • Italian pavilion (with Cesare Valle) at the 1937 Paris ‘Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne,
  • 1937—42 ‘Esposizione Universale di Roma’ satellite town (with Giuseppe Pagano, Luigi Piccinato, Ettore Rossi, and Luigi Vietti) near Rome for the ‘E42’ exhibition (unrealized),
  • 1942 site plan (with others) and architectural supervision of the 1942 ‘Esposizione Universale di Roma’ and
  • 1959 Palazzo dello Sport (with Luigi Nervi).
  • He designed the 1917 proposed project for the centre of Bologna;
  • 1923—28 Palazzo di Giustizia, Messina;
  • 1925-28 ‘Monumento alla Vittoria, Bolzano;
  • 1927-32 ‘Torrioni’ (12-storey tower), post office, and Tower of the Revolution in the Piazza della Vittoria, Brescia;
  • 1938 via Roma, Turin; and
  • 1942 Piazza della Vittoria, Genoa.

Piacentini significantly influenced 20th-century Italian architecture through his writings, buildings, and teaching.

Sources

Byars, M., & Riley, T. (2004). The design encyclopedia. Laurence King Publishing. https://amzn.to/3ElmSlL

Wikipedia contributors. (2022, April 24). Marcello Piacentini. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 22:11, July 29, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marcello_Piacentini&oldid=1084454768

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