Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
EUR
Mussolini's most famous architectural legacy is the EUR district in the extreme south of
the city. Built for the Esposizione Universale di Roma in 1942, this strange quarter of
wide boulevards and huge linear buildings owes its look to the vision of the
razionalisti
(rationalists). In practice, though, only one of their number, Adalberto Libera, actually
worked on the project, as by this stage most of the Gruppo Sette had fallen out with the
ruling junta. Libera's Palazzo dei Congressi is a masterpiece of rationalist architecture, but
EUR's most iconic building is the 'Square Colosseum', the Palazzo della Civiltà del La-
voro, designed by Giovanni Guerrini, Ernesto Bruno La Padula and Mario Romano.
Postwar Developments
For much of the postwar period, architects in Rome were limited to planning cheap hous-
ing for the city's ever-growing population. Swathes of hideous apartment blocks were
built along the city's main arteries, and grim suburbs sprang up on land claimed from loc-
al farmers.
The 1960 Olympics heralded a spate of sporting construction, and both Stadio Flaminio
and Stadio Olimpico date to this period. Pier Luigi Nervi, Italy's master of concrete and a
hugely influential innovator, added his contribution in the form of the Palazzetto dello
Sport.
CONTEMPORARY BRIDGES
In recent years, two striking modern bridges have opened in Rome. In 2011 the Ponte della Musica footbridge
was inaugurated after three years of construction. Spanning the Tiber between the Flaminio district and the Foro
Italico sports complex, it features a steel arch design by English studio Buro Happold and architects Powell-Willi-
ams.
To the south, the 2012 Ponte dell'Ostiense sports a sinuous white steel arch as it runs over the railway line that
has long separated Ostiense from nearby Garbatella.
