EUR is an acronym for Esposizione Universale Roma and is a perfect example of fascist architecture.

Fascist architecture became popular under Benito Mussolini’s rule of Italy from 1922 to 1943.

The new modernist style of architecture inspired by Imperial Rome was one way to help build his vision of a unified fascist Italy. The complex, originally called E42, was planned to host a World Fair to celebrate the beginning of the Fascist era.

The initial project was presented in 1938 under the direction of Marcello Piacentini.

The design was inspired, according to the fascist ideology, to Roman Imperial town planning, with modern elements which came from Italian rationalism.

Beside Marcello Piacentini, Giuseppe Pagano Pogatschnig, Luigi Piccinato, Luigi Vietti and Ettore Rossi were the architects chosen to build the project. The Expo never took place due to the Second World War, and the original project was left uncompleted. During 1950s and 1960s the unfinished buildings were completed to be a business district.

EUR was almost fully completed for the 1960 Olympics, held in Rome. At that time, most of the important infrastructures, such as the Palazzo dello Sport (designed by Nervi and Piacentini) and the Velodromo were completed.

The Fascist architecture of EUR was prominently featured in Fellini’s La Dolce Vita, Michelangelo Antonioni’s 1962 film L’eclisse, Elio Petri’s The 10th Victim and Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1970 film The Conformist.

Intro image by Lorenzo De Francesco

Source Flickr, Wikipedia ( 1 , 2 , 3 )



A documentary on EUR (in italian)

Palazzo della Civiltá del Lavoro

The Palazzo was designed by the architects Giovanni Guerrini, Ernesto Bruno La Padula and Mario Romano and constructed between 1938 and 1943. It was inaugurated on 30 November 1940 as the centerpiece of the Esposizione and continues to be its most iconic building. The structure is also considered one of the most representative examples of Fascist architecture at the EUR. [Wikipedia]

Obelisco Marconi

Palazzo dei congressi