6Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana

Perhaps better known by its nickname “the square Colosseum,” Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana was commissioned by Mussolini for the 1942 World Fair. World War II stopped plans for a global event, but the arresting building with its obviously fascist architecture still stands in Rome’s EUR district.

Much like the symbolic Roman monument that inspired the construction, the building is covered in white travertine marble and has a series of loggias filled with statues running along each side. The stark linearity is at odds with the cupolas of central Rome, but there is a contemporary beauty to the structure. The building now serves as Fendi’s headquarters, and it is possible to visit small exhibits that the fashion brand regularly organises on the ground floor.

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