Esposizione universale (1942)

The exposition, originally planned for 1941, was postponed to 1942 to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Mussolini's seizure of power. It represented the culmination of fascist ideology and ambitions. According to its planners, the Fair would “be of vast proportions…of the highest Technical Italian Art…the grandest conception in the field of Technique and Mechanical Art.” Numerous buildings were commissioned as part of the project, including the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, the Palazzo dei Ricevimenti and the Palazzo dei Congressi. A massive 240-metre-tall "Arch of the Empire" was intended to mark the entrance to the fair. When work was finally halted at the end of 1943, only the Palazzo degli Uffici had been completed. This building was intended to house the staff of the EUR Institute and its interiors were designed by Guglielmo Ulrich, one of the greatest designers of the time. The Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana had been inaugurated but was not yet fully complete. Most of the decorative works were never realised. Exceptions included mosaics by Enrico Prampolini (The Corporations), and Fortunato Depero (Arts, Crafts, and Professions). == Legacy ==

Work resumed soon after the end of the Second World War. During the EA 53 and, above all, the 1960 Summer Olympics, the EUR area became one of the main centres alongside the Foro Italico. In the 1950s, the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana and the Palazzo dei Congressi were completed; the former Via Imperiale was fully opened up and renamed Via Cristoforo Colombo; the metro line from Termini Station began operating; and the Church of Santi Pietro e Paolo a Via Ostiense opened and the Palazzo dello Sport, designed by Pier Luigi Nervi and Marcello Piacentini, was built. In short, without rejecting the original project, EUR was transformed into a residential neighbourhood — a concept that had already been part of the Fascist programme. Living in EUR became a status symbol and part of the upper middle class left northern Rome to move south, marking a small revolution in the capital's social geography. EUR as one of the backdrops in Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita (1960). Elio Petri filmed some scenes of The 10th Victim there and Michelangelo Antonioni used it as the setting for ''L'Eclisse''. == Gallery ==

File:Piazza imperiale plan EUR.jpg|Plan for the Piazza Imperiale, designed by Francesco Fariello, Luigi Moretti, Saverio Muratori and Ludovico Quaroni. The plan was presented at the Milan Triennial VII in 1940. File:Palazzo della civiltà del lavoro (EUR, Rome) (5904657870).jpg|The Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana, designed by Giovanni Guerrini, Ernesto Lapadula, and Mario Romano File:Le Palazzo dei Congressi (EUR, Rome) (5904092951).jpg|The Palazzo dei Congressi, designed by Adalberto Libera. File:Palazzo alle fontane 1.jpg|The Palazzo degli Uffici. Designed by the architect Gaetano Minucci, the building was intended to house the headquarters of the Exposition. Palazzo Uffici - interior (cropped).jpg|The interior of the Palazzo degli Uffici shortly after its completion in the late 1930s. File:Roma 2011 08 22 Museo Civiltà Romana colonnato fronte.jpg|The background colonnade of the Museum of Roman Civilization == See also ==