Rational to monumental: Rome architecture between the world wars (online)

Event details

Join our favourite Roman envoy, Olga, online on a stroll through the Eternal City, finding examples of architecture of this controversial period in Italian history, in both the city centre and its satellite suburbs.

Rome is an old city - it has existed for almost three millennia and is the cultural heritage wonder of the world. Walking the streets of the city one strolls through time: from ancient Roman through Byzantine, Medieval, Renaissance and Baroque periods. But Rome doesn’t lack 20th century architecture milestones either. The 1920s in Italy were marked by rationalism in art and architecture, which was popular for a decade and then replaced by the monumentalism of Mussolini’s regime, which left landmarks scattered around the city and presents us with another layer to add to the complex collage of history set in stone in Rome. Whole swathes of agricultural land around Rome were transformed through Mussolini's public housing projects for the middle and working classes in the ever-growing metropolis with chronical housing problem.

We will visit monumental EUR neighbourhood built for the World Fair which never took place, and sports facilities and post offices built in typical fascist rationalist style. We'll take a walk around public housing blocks, some of which have become very expensive real-estate, while others stubbornly maintain their community spirit and resist the pressing gentrification, and some remain marginalized and underprivileged to this day.

Olga Cuckovic is a licensed Tour Guide of Rome and the Vatican City and has managed tours in Italy, Central Europe for over 30 years, working for one of the best US tour operators for luxury travel, Tauck, as coordinator and a guide. She specialises in private tours for families and individual custom-made itineraries.