From propaganda to critical reflection
Once a Fascist party building and welcoming centre for pilgrims, today the former Casa del Fascio e dell’Ospitalità is on its way to become a documentation centre enabling the critical interaction with a difficult past.
Monumental architecture
Aware of the new trends in Italian contemporary architecture, Arnaldo Fuzzi designed the majestic Casa del Fascio e dell’Ospitalità in stile littorio. The monumental L-shaped building is located in the main square at the crossroads between two main highways. Its monumentality is enhanced by the massive tower as well as by the contrast between white Roman travertine and local red bricks.
Casa del Fascio e dell’Ospitalità: unique of its type
The Casa del Fascio was a new type of building “invented” by the Fascist regime. These monumental Fascist party buildings with the typical “modern and virile tower” were supposed to represent the power of the regime, also for future generations. Besides its political function, it also served the propagandist function as a social centre for party members.
Given the unique situation of the town of Predappio as a pilgrimage site, the huge Casa del Fascio e dell’Ospitalità of the small town fulfilled another important role: a sort of welcoming centre for the numerous visitors, featuring recreational rooms, a “tourist office”, a bar and restaurant as well as a daytime hotel.
Architecture: new uses, new meanings
Today, this enormous building is abandoned and in a state of gradual degradation. There are projects for a new use of the complex as a documentation centre on Italy’s history during the Fascist period. Supported by important Italian historians, this new centre aims to become a significant site for a critical reflection on this unsettling history.