Overview

After the Fall explores the many traces of fascism that can be found in the architecture and urban form of Rome – from its buildings, monuments and piazze, to its street names and graffiti. It reveals how the legacy of this short period in history shaped - and continues to shape - Rome’s contemporary cityscape in powerful ways, and examines what this can tell us about the persistence of troubling political and historical legacies in the built environment. Italy’s fascist period (1922-1943) is perhaps the least-understood episode of Rome’s architectural history. Yet paradoxically those two decades have, arguably more than any other, defined our contemporary view of Rome’s world-famous ancient, Renaissance, and Baroque urban landscapes. The book examines the ways in which the fascist regime sought to remake Rome according to its own vision of the past, and surveys the afterlife of Mussolini’s architectural and urban projects, from the Roman Masterplan to the Foro Italico. Internationally, there is currently much debate on the controversial status of public monuments - their abandonment, defacement, re-integration or removal - and, as After the Fall demonstrates, Rome provides a rich setting in which to examine these topical, pressing questions. Adding a new chapter to the architectural history of Rome, this fascinating history brings architecture, politics, and art together as living, contested experiences in a host of different locations around contemporary Rome.

Full Product Details

9781350120594

Table of Contents

Reviews

This book is not only a rich compendium of case studies of difficult heritage but also a significant contribution to an understanding of postwar architectural culture. Peeling back and reconstructing layers of meaning associated with key works of the Fascist Regime in Rome, the book will make the city more comprehensible and richer in historical associations. Flavia Marcello has illuminated this study with a humanist understanding that would not have been possible a few years ago. * Tim Benton, Open University, UK * After the Fall provides a detailed account of how key sites of fascist Rome have evolved and endured in the last century. Comprised of concise encyclopedic entries on monuments, buildings and sites, it will be a useful guide for all those interested in what has become of fascist Rome. * Stephanie Pilat, University of Oklahoma, USA * Flavia Marcello’s absorbing and richly detailed book explores the ongoing impact of Fascism and Italy’s evolving relationship to its history on Rome’s urban development and built environment. It will be invaluable reading for anyone with an interest in Rome’s historical and contemporary urban topography or in Italy’s complex and contested relationship with its Fascist past. * Sally Hill, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand *

Author Information

Flavia Marcello is Professor of Architectural History at Swinburne University of Technology’s School of Design, Australia.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available