The EUR complex in Rome, the site that was chosen and built for the 1942 world expo, is one of the more iconic sites of modern Rome. It was of course thus with much excitement that we have departed to visit some of its main structures during one of our analysis classes with Alberto Lacovoni and Marialuisa Palumbo. Perhaps the most iconic and well known at least among the students is probably the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, from which we did a brief introduction to the complex.
We also had an appointment organized at the Palazzo dei Congressi, which served somewhat as one of the major structure of the whole complex. My opinions about the structure aside, it definitely served as a window to the attitude of architecture at the time. Perhaps one could say that it is somewhat an architectural utopia, which is absolutely pure in its from and in some cases almost approaches brutalism, but then the use of marble makes it something more. Still unsure if I personally enjoyed the visit, it still is one building that has an extremely clear layout, with a concept easy to identify, and thus will probably be fun to analyze for this class. We then went around some more of the structures, accompanied this whole time by Andy Groarke, making the class even more enriching for its multitude of points of views.
(all photos credit to Ihwa Choi)
by Matej Dlabal