House of Fascism

Giuseppe Terragni – House of Fascism in Como Italy, 1932-1936

«Milestone of modern European architecture, this work unravels Terragni's creative fragrance within the framework of rationalist poetics. It is an early text of "manner", which explains why, after almost fifty years, it is the subject of passionate studies »
(Bruno Zevi)

The former Casa del Fascio, is a building located in Como, in Piazza del Popolo 4 (former Piazza Impero), and is one of the most interesting buildings of Italian rationalism.
The building was donated by the textile entrepreneur Rodolfo Bernocchi and designed by Giuseppe Terragni in 1932. Construction work ended in 1936. A first, more traditional, project was also carried out in 1928.
The building has the shape of a large parallelepiped formed by surfaces of pure geometry: on one side of 33.20 meters, for half the height, there are full parts and empty parts, which mark an essential but effective game, with suggestive chiaroscuro and transparency effects. The materials (Botticino marble, glass block, glass and metal autarchic alloys) are arranged in shapes that create parallel and orthogonal lines, which make the architectural ensemble harmonious. Inside, Trani marble and Belgian black marble are also used, as well as painted plaster.

The building denounces its monumentality with three steps from the street level and communicates with the nearby elements: the Brunate mountain, the Teatro Sociale, the Duomo. Going through one of the eighteen glass doors, you reach an atrium, on which the main rooms overlook: the Directory room, the offices and the distribution balconies.

The atrium is covered by glass-concrete curtains, among which there is a long glass plate that allows you to glimpse the hill above.
Source: Wikipedia