Architects: Marco Costanzi Architetto.
Location: Rome, Italy.
Year: 2016.
Photographs: Hélène Binet, Andrea Jemolo, Gionata Xerra, Courtsey of Fendi.
“Designed in 1937 by architects Guerrini, La Padula and Romano, Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana is considered one of the icons of Italian rationalist architecture.
The shape, style and material from which it is constructed make the building still modern and contemporary to this day, ensuring its inculsion in the list of the most significant international iconic buildings.
Perfectly silhouetted against the Roman sky line, the “Square Colosseum” has been referenced as a source of inspiration for the metaphysics movement and it was quoted in films by Rossellini and Antonioni.
Fellini considered it a symbol of an Italian story as did Elio Petri, who imagined the building in the future year 2000 in “La decima vittima “ (The Tenth Victim) of 1965.
Designed to celebrate Italian craftsmanship, the “Square Colosseum” has never been used as a space to house offices, apart from during a short period after the World War, when it became the headquarters of the Federazione Nazionale dei Cavalieri del Lavoro (National Federation of Knights of Labor).
FENDI has decided to turn the building into its headquarters by unifying the different departments located across the city. All the teams, more than 400 people, will be distributed over more than 15.000 square meters, along with all other management operations.
The architectural project sets the goal of making the building “habitable” for the first time in its long history, changing the public perception of the monument as an impenetrable stone box.
To make the structure permeable and as open to the public as possible, the first floor area has been designed as a gallery. Exhibitions will take place in these beautiful spaces, celebrating Italian excellence. Floors devoted to work, respectful of the environment around them, will be organized through a rigorous design of simplifying by the rationalist tradition which clearly influenced the building architecture. The open space allows the interior design to operate exactly as it was conceived in 1937: an atrium where space and light create the environment.“
Marco Costanzi
