
Fascist architecture encompasses various stylistic trends in architecture developed by architects of
fascist
Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural soci ...
states, primarily in the early 20th century. Fascist architectural styles gained popularity in the late 1920s with the rise of
modernism
Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
along with the
ultranationalism
Ultranationalism, or extreme nationalism, is an extremist form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its specific i ...
associated with fascist governments in western Europe. Fascist styles often resemble that of
ancient Rome
In modern historiography, ancient Rome is the Roman people, Roman civilisation from the founding of Rome, founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the Fall of the Western Roman Empire, collapse of the Western Roman Em ...
, but can extend to modern aesthetics as well. Fascist-era buildings are frequently constructed with particular concern given to
symmetry
Symmetry () in everyday life refers to a sense of harmonious and beautiful proportion and balance. In mathematics, the term has a more precise definition and is usually used to refer to an object that is Invariant (mathematics), invariant und ...
,
simplicity
Simplicity is the state or quality of being wikt:simple, simple. Something easy to understand or explain seems simple, in contrast to something complicated. Alternatively, as Herbert A. Simon suggests, something is simple or Complexity, complex ...
, and monumental size, especially for public buildings.
Benito Mussolini
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...
utilised several styles of architecture, incorporating classical elements into modern
Rationalist architecture to convey a sense of continuity with ancient Rome.
National Socialist architecture under
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
is often associated with Italian Fascist Architecture. It also utilised new styles of architecture but favoured
Stripped Classicism over modernism, in an attempt to unify the people, mark a new era of nationalist culture, and exhibit the absolute rule of the state.
In some cases, such as the Italian "foundation cities" (città di fondazione), the new architecture also followed the needs of the
corporatist economic model: smaller buildings inspired by local architecture were sometimes favoured to create small rural cities. This practice of moving people out of the city centers and into rural areas
to farm or to work in mines, especially during the time of
autarchy, is similar to
disurbanism.
History
Fascist architecture in the form of
Rationalism
In philosophy, rationalism is the Epistemology, epistemological view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge" or "the position that reason has precedence over other ways of acquiring knowledge", often in contrast to ot ...
with elements of classical Roman architecture was born under dictator Benito Mussolini's rule of Italy from 1922 to 1943. Mussolini invested in public construction projects in order to foster economic development, to gain popular support and modernize the country. But it is especially during the totalitarian acceleration of the 1930s that the Regime asked its architects to reflect the values of
Fascism
Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...
, a form of pedagogical architecture for the masses.
Mussolini utilized all forms of media along with architecture to shape the new Italian identity. When He came to power he found tens of different architects each with its own style, ranging from Futurism and Rationalism to neoclassical. Together with his chief architect,
Piacentini, he coordinated and mediated between the other architects to give Fascist Architecture a "unitary direction", as Piacentini called it.
Jewish architects in Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy
Similarly, once Hitler came to power in 1933 and transformed the German Chancellery into a dictatorship, he used architecture in the form of
Stripped Classicism with German features as one of many tools to help unify and nationalize Germany under his rule.
Hitler banned
Bauhaus
The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the , was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined Decorative arts, crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., ...
and Jewish architects, some of which escaped to
Mandatory Palestine
Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine.
After ...
and would later go on to build the
White City of Tel Aviv. Others, like
Wolfgang Frankl, found refuge in Italy, where they kept working until 1937 when Italy adopted racial laws too. However even after 1937 some Italian Jewish architects were exempted from the racial laws, such as
Giuseppe Pagano and
Vittorio Morpurgo, and kept working on some of the most important Fascist monuments and buildings.
Morpurgo worked on the buildings in the newly created
Emperor Augustus Square, including the 1938 enclosure of the
Ara Pacis
The (Latin, "Altar of Augustan Peace"; commonly shortened to ) is an altar in Rome dedicated to the Pax Romana. The monument was commissioned by the Roman Senate on July 4, 13 BC to honour the return of Augustus to Rome after three years in Hisp ...
(demolished in the early 2000s) and the
Museum of the Roman ships of lake Nemi. At the time these were considered two of the most important public works by Fascist propagandists.
Morpurgo and Pagano had a strong fascist faith, Pagano was in the
School of Fascist Mysticism and voluntarily enlisted in WW2, at the end he was captured by the Germans, sent to a concentration camp, and died of illness and mistreatment in the infirmary at Gusen in 1945, just days before the camp's liberation.
The evolution of Italian Fascist Architecture
Mussolini's chief architect,
Piacentini, was already an important architect before Fascist times, his style wasn't Rationalist at first nor was he very fond of Fascism (he only got the card of the
National Fascist Party
The National Fascist Party (, PNF) was a political party in Italy, created by Benito Mussolini as the political expression of Italian fascism and as a reorganisation of the previous Italian Fasces of Combat. The party ruled the Kingdom of It ...
in 1932),
in a similar way to Hitler's chief architect
Albert Speer
Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as Reich Ministry of Armaments and War Production, Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of W ...
he was connected to the dictator through a personal bond and by understanding what the respective dictators desired. Both Piacentini and Speer distinguished themselves for their efficiency and organizing skills.
In 1922 Piacentini was assaulted by Fascists for his connections with
Freemasonry
Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
, but he didn't join anti-fascism, instead he put himself at the service of Mussolini.
Piacentini wanted to give Fascist Italy a proper architectural style and Mussolini repaid him by assigning him some of the most important public building projects of the Regime. Piacentini distinguished himself for his extraordinary efficiency and organizing skills, he completed
Victory Square in Brescia in just 3 years,
as well as for embracing the modernist rationalist style, and understanding what Mussolini wanted. Other cities called Piacentini to work on their squares similarly to what he did for Brescia.
Before he was even finished with the square in Brescia, he was tasked with an even bigger project: La Città Universitaria di Roma (the city of the
Sapienza University in Rome). Piacentini designed the main building with the rectorate and divided the rest of the project among other architects, giving them a unitary direction to follow.
Giovanni Papini
Giovanni Papini (9 January 18818 July 1956) was an Italian journalist, essayist, novelist, short story writer, poet, literary critic, and Italian philosophy, philosopher. A controversial literary figure of the early and mid-twentieth century, he ...
would later define him: "coordinator of minds".
Mussolini at first was in favor of modern architecture, in 1931 he had visited the second exhibition of
Rationalist architecture in Rome, where the works of architects such as Terragni, Lingeri, Libera, Figini and Pollini were displayed. Mussolini made it clear that he was for this modern architecture, going as far as to say: "Rationalism must be the architecture of Fascism". The same year however he also approved architectural projects that implemented classical elements.
Via della Conciliazione in Rome, another work of Piacentini, shows simple but monumental architecture with neoclassical elements that fit the center of Rome and the vicinity with Saint Peter's basilica.
In 1934 the fascist deputies discussed the new project for the Palazzo del Littorio, the central headquarters of the National Fascist Party, to be built along
Via dell'Impero in Rome. Most of the deputies, lead by
Farinacci, were against modern architecture. Mussolini thus invited the architects of the
new train station of Florence and the architects of the town of
Sabaudia to Rome and praised their work, once again reaffirming his taste for modern architecture. Of all the projects for the headquarters that were submitted, some very sleak and futuristic, even featuring skyscrapers covered in glass, others more neo-classical, Mussolini chose a project that was halfway between modern and neo-roman.
However the project was later moved near the Foro Mussolini (Mussolini Forum, today renamed
Foro Italico
Foro Italico is a sports complex in Rome, Italy, on the slopes of Monte Mario. It was built between 1928 and 1938 as the Foro Mussolini (literally Benito Mussolini, Mussolini's Forum (Roman), Forum) under the design of Enrico Del Debbio and, lat ...
), and the building was re-designed to be more monumental and in line with the latest developments of Fascist Architecture. Today
the building is used as headquarters of the Ministero degli Esteri.
According to historians Renzo de Felice and Paolo Nicoloso, it was at the time of the
Italo-Ethiopian war, when popular consensus reached its peak, that Fascism moved from a logic of "lasting" in power by gathering consensus to a logic of "daring" to make bold moves, of creating the "new man" and penetrating even more into the lives of every citizen, building a faith around the myth of ancient Rome.
To convey the idea of romanity to the masses, Fascist Architecture shifted towards more neo-roman styles and the main turning point was the E42 project.
Born for the 1942 Rome Universal Expo, it was to become an example of "mussolinian city", its buildings weren't supposed to be temporary like the international expos of the past, but they were meant to last hundreds if not thousands of years.
It was meant to house the new administrative buildings of Rome and to be the first step in the expansion of Rome towards the sea. Massive boulevards were opened, from the center of Rome all the way to the sea, passing through the new E42 district. Along the main roads, large monuments and hotels for the millions of visitors of the expo started being built, some are still visible today. The profits from the Expo would also be used to finance the war, which at the time was expected to begin after 1942 or 1945. Again the modern projects submitted, featuring glass skyscrapers, were scrapped in favor of buildings with Roman elements, a city of arches and columns meant to convey the idea that "a people of conquerors and dominators had returned".
The Italian colonial architecture of the time also featured modernist and monumental buildings; for example the buildings in
Skanderberg square in
Tirana
Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...
, Albania. The modernist buildings in
Asmara
Asmara ( ), or Asmera (), is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region (Eritrea), Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the List of capital cities by altitude, sixth highest capital in the wo ...
(Eritrea) have been declared a
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
. Sometimes these buildings utilized local materials and took inspiration from local architecture, blending local and Italian styles.
Early Nazi architecture
1936 Olympic Games
Despite their differences, German National Socialism is often considered a form of Fascism, their architectures show similarities but also some differences.
The 1936 Olympic Games had been awarded to Weimar Germany in 1931, when Hitler came to power he decided to use the games for propaganda purposes. He made plans for the construction of a great sports complex in Grunewald named the "Reichssportfeld", with a brand-new
Olympiastadion as its centerpiece. Hitler desired more grand and extravagant venues than those that had been proposed before the IOC in 1931 by Berlin's bid team.
On 14 December 1933, Hitler had the March brothers create a third design for an Olympic Stadium. This is the plan that was used, and contained not only the Olympic Stadium that would be built, but also other elements that were built such as the Olympischer Platz, parade grounds with the "Führerloge", the
Olympic Bell Tower along the east-west axis the Coubertinplatz, and the swimming stadium placed on the north-south axis.
In late fall of 1933 demolition work began on the old Deutsches Stadion, and work commenced on the completion of the gymnasium that had been left half-finished since 1928. Construction took place from 1934 to 1936. Complying with Hitler's wishes, March was the stadium's architect for the majority of the project,
though Hitler ultimately replaced him with
Albert Speer
Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as Reich Ministry of Armaments and War Production, Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of W ...
as the stadium's architect.
March's stadium, modern in its aesthetics, did not match the Nazi's goal to use the Olympics to display themselves as an imperial power in the mold of the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
. March's design lacked the monumental scale and neo-classical architecture that were the core values of
Nazi architecture
Nazi architecture is the architecture promoted by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Germany, Nazi regime from 1933 until its fall in 1945, connected with urban planning in Nazi Germany. It is characterized by three forms: a Stripped Classicism, stripp ...
. Hitler allegedly had even threatened to cancel the Berlin games altogether if March's stadium was not altered to his satisfaction. After being appointed, Speer designed a neo-classical facade for the stadium literally overnight to meet Hitler's satisfaction. Speer's design was used, and clad March's stadium's exposed steel frame with stone.
Nuremberg rally grounds
On 30 August 1933, Hitler declared Nuremberg the "City of the ''Reichsparteitage'' (Reich Party Congresses)".
The grounds were designed by
Hitler's architect
Albert Speer
Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as Reich Ministry of Armaments and War Production, Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of W ...
, except for the Congress Hall, which was designed by
Ludwig and
Franz Ruff. However, only ''Zeppelinfeld'', ''Luitpoldarena'', and the ''Große Straße'' were finished.
The project included:
* the ''Luitpoldarena'', a deployment area
* the Luitpold Hall or "Old Congress Hall" (damaged during World War II, later demolished)
* the ''Kongresshalle'' (Congress Hall) or ''Neue Kongresshalle'' (New Congress Hall) (unfinished)
* the ''Zeppelinfeld'' (Zeppelin Field), another deployment area
* the ''Märzfeld'' (March Field) (unfinished, later demolished), a deployment area for the ''Wehrmacht'' (army)
* the ''
Deutsche Stadion'' (German stadium) (only foundations were built), which was to be the largest sports stadium in the world
* the former ''Stadion der Hitlerjugend'' ("stadium of the
Hitler Youth
The Hitler Youth ( , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth wing of the German Nazi Party. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. From 1936 until 1945, it was th ...
", today
Frankenstadion)
* the ''Große Straße'' ("Great Road"), a (never-used) parade road
A "Haus der Kultur" (House of Culture) and a representative entrance portal towards the "Great Road" were planned at the northwestern end of the "Great Road", near the (new) Congress Hall.
The whole site is now a memorial maintained to commemorate the victims of Nazi repression. The ''Kongresshalle'', ''Zeppelinfeld'', and the ''Grosse Strasse'' have been protected monuments since 1973 as significant examples of Nazi Party architecture.
Rivalry between Italy and Germany
Important for the turning point in the style of Italian Fascist Architecture was the rivalry with Nazi Germany. The two countries chased and imitated each other in many fields, including that of architecture. It's impossible not to see the resemblance between the façades of the New Reich Chancellery (built between 1938-1939) and the Palace of Justice of Milan (built between 1932 and 1940), although the tribunal of Milan is much bigger and modern in style (simplified from its original, more elaborate project) it is unclear whether it influenced the design of the New Chancellery.
Around 1936 Italy designed a large rally ground called Arengo delle Nazioni to be built near the
Mussolini Forum, about the size of the Zeppelinfeld in Nuremberg. Later the plans were revised, and it was said about the 1941 final plan: "Finally the Forum can compete with Nuremberg".
In January 1937 Hitler and his chief architect Albert Speer started designing the new Berlin, sometimes called Welthauptstadt Germania (World Capital Germania, similarly to the idea of Roma Caput Mundi). Hitler and Speer worked on a colossal scale, Piacentini would later go on to say: "the German meter is made of 1000 centimeters".
In September 1937 Mussolini visited Hitler in Munich, among other things the two dictators also talked about architecture.
That same month, Hitler laid the first stone of the Deutsches Stadion in Nuremberg, which was never completed.
Hitler and Speer also visited Rome, Naples and Florence in Italy in 1938.
Like the E42, the new Berlin was designed to last hundreds if not thousands of years, and took inspiration from ancient Greece and Rome, Egypt, Babylon, and was meant to surpass Paris and London and Washington D.C. with its monuments. Another proof of the rivalry between Germany and Italy at the time is the fact that, while the rest of the plans for the new Berlin were made public, and Piacentini even dedicated a number of the magazine Architettura to them, Hitler told Speer and
Goebbels to not show the
Grosse Halle to Mussolini, for fear that he might copy it.
Doubts arose immediately about the stability of the terrain, the marshland which Berlin rests on. A test construction was built, consisting of a large and heavy block of concrete. The building sank by about 18 cm during the three years of testing, while the maximum acceptable value would have been 6 cm. This test demonstrated that the ground would hardly have supported the structures of Hitler's design without further preparations.
At the end almost no building designed for the new Berlin was built.
The 1941 regulation plan for Rome, "a project to leave people astonished" as Piacentini said, is considered by some to be the response to Hitler and Speer's projects for the new Berlin,
however very few pictures and documents about this project have survived.
Style and purpose
Fascist styles of architecture are a branch of modernist architecture which became popular in the early 20th century. The Italian Fascist style was also greatly influenced by the rationalist movement in Italy in the 1920s.
Rationalist architecture, with the help of Italian government support, celebrated the new fascist age of culture and government in Italy. Some today consider it a second Italian Renaissance. The goal of Rationalism initially was to build according to the necessity, according to the function of the buildings, and rejected unnecessary things such as decorations. Later it evolved to reflect the ideal continuity with the Roman Empire and to celebrate Fascist achievements. Statues and high-reliefs also adorned Fascist buildings.
In
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
, the extremely large and spacious architecture was one way envisioned by Hitler to unify Germany for what he described as "mass experiences", in which thousands of citizens could gather and take part in the patriotism of community events, and listen to speeches made by Hitler and other Nazi party leaders.
Some of the buildings purposefully conveyed a sense of awe and intimidation through their size, and were made of limestone, travertino, marble and other durable stones in order to last for centuries and to create impressive ruins.
Hitler and Mussolini used this architecture as a source of propaganda to display to the world the strength, pride and power their regimes had but also to break ties with the liberal past; in some cases the buildings were part of the modernization process of the country or followed the need dictated by the economic models. In particular in Italy the idea of the corporatist city arose.
In other cases the buildings served the welfare programs of the respective regimes: in Italy, Fascism built public buildings such as thousands of Case del Fascio (plural of Casa del Fascio) in every major town and city, which were the local Nationalist Fascist Party house and served various purposes including offering services to the population. There were also Case del Mutilato (houses of the mutilated soldier, to provide assistance to disabled veterans), Case della madre e del bambino (houses of the mother and the child, operated by the Opera Nazionale Maternità created in 1925 to assist the mothers in need), and more such buildings. They also built theatres, cinemas, both for propaganda and cultural purposes, sports buildings and large summer camps called "summer colonies", on the seaside and sometimes in the mountains, these were usually operated by the Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro and were used by the workers and children in their free time or holidays. Thousands of workers and children could thus afford vacations or to go to the cinema. Some of these summer camps remained operational after the war but most have been abandoned. Something similar was done in Germany by the Strength Through Joy (KdF) organization.
Architects
The prominent architects of the Fascist era include:
*
Marcello Piacentini
Marcello Piacentini (8 December 188119 May 1960) was an Italian people, Italian urban theorist and one of the main proponents of Italian Fascist architecture.
Biography
Early career
Born in Rome, he was the son of architect Pio Piacentini. He ...
– Piacentini was Mussolini's chief architect, he ended up being responsible for around half of the total architectural projects of Fascist Italy, and for coordinating most other architects. He notably worked on the
EUR
The euro (symbol: €; currency code: EUR) is the official currency of 20 of the member states of the European Union. This group of states is officially known as the euro area or, more commonly, the eurozone. The euro is divided into 10 ...
district, the Palazzo delle Corporazioni (Palace of the Corporations),
Via della Conciliazione, the rectorate of the City of the
Sapienza University, Victory Square in
Brescia
Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...
, Victory Square and Dante Square in
Genoa
Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...
with the 2 skyscrapers, one of which was the tallest in Europe for many years.
*
Giuseppe Terragni – The most famous works of Terragni are the
Casa del Fascio of Como and the
Novocomum apartment building, examples of
Italian Rationalism.
*
Adalberto Libera – The most famous work of Libera is the
Palazzo dei Congressi in the EUR district (Congress Palace).
*
Luigi Moretti – His notable works include the Casa delle Armi (an academy for fencing and other sports) in the
Foro Mussolini, and the unbuilt Arengario delle Nazioni rally ground. His style is strikingly modern and Rationalist.
*
Enrico Del Debbio – His most famous works are the Stadio dei Marmi and other buildings in the
Foro Mussolini, he also co-designed the Palazzo Littorio (now
Palazzo della Farnesina).
*
Vittorio Morpurgo – Notable works include the buildings around
Emperor Augustus square, including the old museum of the
Ara Pacis
The (Latin, "Altar of Augustan Peace"; commonly shortened to ) is an altar in Rome dedicated to the Pax Romana. The monument was commissioned by the Roman Senate on July 4, 13 BC to honour the return of Augustus to Rome after three years in Hisp ...
, the Museum of the Roman Ships of Lake Nemi, and more.
*
Ettore Rossi – Notable works include the Post Office of Palermo, (1934-1935), functional public building with a large monumental presence, and the E42 Official Restaurant building, inspired by classic temples.
*
Gio Ponti
Giovanni "Gio" Ponti (; 18 November 1891 – 16 September 1979) was an Italian architect, industrial designer, furniture designer, artist, teacher, writer and publisher.
During his career, which spanned six decades, Ponti built more than a hu ...
– famous Italian architect and designer
*
Arnaldo Dell'Ira – Italian architect and designer
*
Albert Speer
Berthold Konrad Hermann Albert Speer (; ; 19 March 1905 – 1 September 1981) was a German architect who served as Reich Ministry of Armaments and War Production, Minister of Armaments and War Production in Nazi Germany during most of W ...
– Speer was Hitler's chief architect, his notable works include the German Pavilion for the 1937 Paris Expo and for the E42 Rome Expo, the Zeppelinfeld, the New Reich Chancellery which suffered severe damage during WW2 and was later demolished, the
Deutsches Stadion that was never completed, and the plans for the new Berlin, Welthauptstadt Germania, that were also never built.
*
Hermann Giesler – he was commissioned to build Hitler's house in Munich, later he became General Building Inspector for the city of Munich and then Linz. Throughout the war, Giesler and Speer had several heated arguments about architectural styles.
*
Paul Troost – he was also one of Hitler's favorite architects, he designed the
House of German Art in Munich.
*
Ludwig and
Franz Ruff – they worked on the Nuremberg rally grounds, most notably on the Kongresshalle (Congress Hall)
*
Pedro Muguruza – Spanish architect, notable work includes the
Valle de los Caídos.
*
Julián Otamendi – Spanish architect, notable works include the skyscrapers of
Plaza de España, Madrid.
*
Luis Moya Blanco – Spanish architect
*
Porfírio Pardal Monteiro – Portuguese modernist architect who designed the most public buildings and industrial buildings during the Estado Novo period
Structures
A few of the notable fascist architectural projects of the 20th century include
*
EUR, Rome (Esposizione Universale Roma) – Construction of the EUR began in 1936 in anticipation for Mussolini's World Fair in 1942 to mark the 20th anniversary of the Italian fascist era, the most important buildings were completed but the project was interrupted due to the war and the Expo never took place. Later it was also featured in the 1960 Rome Olympic games, which made the EUR district known to the whole world, and started a process of modernization of the EUR district which continues to this day
*
Foro Mussolini - sports complex in Rome, also featured in the 1960s Rome Olympic games
*
Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana – A famous edifice of the EUR
* ,
Milan
Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
* The City of the
La Sapienza University
The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...
of
Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
*
Piacentini Tower, skyscraper in Genoa that was the tallest skyscraper in Europe for many years
*
Palazzo delle Poste,
Palermo
Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...
*
Roma-Termini railway station (unfinished, later modified after WW2)
*
Olympia-Stadion in Berlin
*
House of German Art in
Munich
Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
*
Nazi party rally grounds in
Nuremberg
Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...
(unfinished)
*
Berlin-Tempelhof airport
*
Deutsches Stadion – (unbuilt) the component of the Nazi party rally grounds Albert Speer designed and Hitler envisioned would host all the future Olympic games during the
Third Reich
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a totalitarian dictat ...
*
Welthauptstadt Germania – (unbuilt) the plans to rebuild Berlin in a monumental stripped-classicist style
See also
*
Stile Littorio
*
Rationalism (architecture)
In architecture, Rationalism () is an architectural current which mostly developed from Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Italy in the 1920s and 1930s. Vitruvius had claimed in his work that architecture is a science that can be comprehended rationall ...
*
Nazi architecture
Nazi architecture is the architecture promoted by Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Germany, Nazi regime from 1933 until its fall in 1945, connected with urban planning in Nazi Germany. It is characterized by three forms: a Stripped Classicism, stripp ...
*
Monumentalism
*
Novecento Italiano
Novecento Italiano () was an Italian artistic movement founded in Milan in 1922 to create an art based on the rhetoric of the fascism of Benito Mussolini, Mussolini.
History
Novecento Italiano was founded by Anselmo Bucci (1887–1955), Leonardo ...
References
Fascismo - Architettura - Arte Arte fascista web site
{{History of architecture