Enrico Del Debbio (26 May 1891 – 12 July 1973) was an Italian

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

and university professor. Born at

Carrara Carrara ( , ; , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, in central Italy, of the province of Massa and Carrara, and notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some west-northwest of Florence. Its mot ...

, he studied in the Fine Art Academy there specializing in architecture. He moved to Rome in 1914 where he won several architectural awards. He also began to teach in the Scuola Superiore di Architettura. In the 1920s, he held several positions in public institutions, such as the organization of the Quadriennale Romana. In 1931, he became artistical-technical consultant in the

Palazzo delle Esposizioni The Palazzo delle Esposizioni is a neoclassical exhibition hall, cultural center and museum on Via Nazionale in Rome, Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Euro ...

for an exhibition celebrating the Decennal of the Fascist Revolution; he was also director of the technical office of the Balilla House (the fascist youth organization). In 1923, he designed the FIAT palace in Via Calabria in Rome. In 1927, he was commissioned the new Foro Mussolini, a sport complex now known as Foro Italico (finished in 1960), including the Stadio dei Marmi (1928) and the

Palazzo della Farnesina The Palazzo della Farnesina is an Italian government building located between Monte Mario and the Tiber River in the Foro Italico area in Rome, Italy. Designed in 1935, it has housed the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs since its completion in ...

, the current seat of the

Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation ( it, Ministero degli affari esteri e della cooperazione internazionale or ''MAECI'') is the foreign ministry of the government of the Italian Republic. It is also known as the Farnesin ...

. He also designed the Stadio del Nuoto ("Swimming Stadium", 1956). He died in Rome in 1973. Del Debbio became unfashionable during the 1970s, seen as "reactionary" because of his associations with fascism. However, in 2007, a retrospective exhibition took place at the

Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna The ("national gallery of modern and contemporary art"), also known as La Galleria Nazionale, is an art gallery in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1883 on the initiative of the then Minister Guido Baccelli and is dedicated to modern and contempor ...

in Rome, displaying his skills at combining classic and modern, detailing and geometry, materials and colours.

References

Del Debbio Enrico
Fascismo - Architettura - Arte / Arte fascista web site {{DEFAULTSORT:Del Debbio, Enrico 1891 births 1973 deaths People from Carrara Members of the Chamber of Fasces and Corporations 20th-century Italian architects Italian fascist architecture