Architecture of Light and Water at the Universal Exhibition of Rome of 1942

The Italian Fascist party set out to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the March on Rome in an ‘imperial’ manner, with a major exhibition in 1942. Already in 1935, Fascist men of power had started to prepare for the celebration of the anniversary of the insurrection by which Benito Mussolini came to power in Italy. From the first ideas onwards, the ambition was to leave a sign in History: a physical, material mark on the city, which at once would mark the memory of its magnificent past, the future of the capital and of Italy alike. Italian authorities understood the world’s fair as an opportunity to present the accomplishments of the renewed Italian state to the world. The exposition should avoid the usual commercial features and focus on elevated spiritual issues such as the ‘Progress of Humanity’ predicted at the hypothetical end of World War II. The exposition’s general commissioner referred to the initiative as the ‘Exhibition of Peace’ or the ‘Olympics of Civilization.’ As Terry Kirk recently observed: “Modern Italian culture prepared once again to confront the world, to showcase Rome as the synthesis of indisputable, universal values.” ¹