Esposizione Universale Roma
The Esposizione Universale Roma (E.U.R.) is a large complex, built in 1935 by Benito Mussolini as symbol of fascism for the world; he wanted to expand the new Rome in the west, to connect it to the sea. The E.U.R. was originally conceived for the 1942 world exhibition, which would never take place since Italy entered the war in 1940.
The E.U.R. provides a good image of how urban Italy would have looked if the fascist regime would not have fallen; large, symmetrical streets and cold buildings of either stile Littorio, inspired by Roman architecture, or Rationalism, built in the traditional limestone, tufa and marble.
The most representative building of the Fascist style is the Palazzo della Civiltà Italica (1939-1952), which was built as a cubic Colosseum.
After the war, the Roman authorities found that they already had a germ of a off-centre business district that other capitals were still planning (London Docklands and La Defense in Paris).
During the 1950s and 1960s, old buildings were completed, and other new buildings were constructed in the same style - housing offices, ministries, large gardens and great parks.
It holds the Museum of the Roman Civilization and a Sports Palace used in the Olympic Games of 1960.
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