Rome’s Signature Buildings - Rome - page 742

Palazzo della Civiltà del Lavoro
Nicknamed the 'Square Colosseum', this iconic building ( Click here ) is a signature work
of 1930s Italian rationalism. With its plain, unadorned surfaces, it starkly captures the
zeitgeist of the fascist age, while also exuding a sense of macho monumentality - a pos-
ture much appreciated by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini.
Auditorium Parco della Musica
Inaugurated in December 2002, Renzo Piano's startlingly original Auditorium ( Click here
) is the most influential contemporary building in Rome, not so much in terms of its
unique design - an eye-catching ensemble of iron-grey pods centred on an outdoor amphi-
theatre - as for the boost it has given Rome's cultural scene.
RECYCLING MARBLE
The building booms of the Renaissance and baroque periods transformed Rome in more ways than one. Just as
spectacular new churches and palazzi went up, so the city's ancient buildings were stripped. The ancient Romans
imported much of their marble from North Africa and Greece, but the papal paymasters preferred to plunder the
city's abandoned marble-clad monuments. A particularly rich source was the Colosseum, which was systematic-
ally stripped for centuries and provided marble for St Peter's Basilica and other big projects. Its current form is
largely the result of this relentless demolition.
Elsewhere, bronze was taken from the Pantheon for use on Castel Sant'Angelo and for the baldachin at St
Peter's.