Photographing functiionalism in Rome

Reviewed by: Chiranjiv Rating:

Overview

Functionalism, originated from futurism, has marked the development of Italian architecture in the twenties and thirties of the twentieth century, continuing in ever new forms up until the seventies.

Photographing a building is translating it into a language different from the message of the architect, that, in order to not betray, we need to know in depth. We will walk the streets of Rome with a critical eye, a manual of architecture in our backpack and a camera hung around our neck. When it appears worthwhile to stop, and to better understand the composition of our next shot, we form a rectangular frame with our hands, connecting forefingers with thumbs and holding them close to the face to imagine a wide-angle effect. Someone will take us for fools, we will reply to them that if this is madness, we're just trying to eliminate redundant information from our view.

 
Step 1: Between the city garden and the working-class suburb

 The Pigneto, working-class neighbourhood wedged between Prenestina and Casilina, is the starting point for understanding the urbanistic history of Rome. We start shooting from the building in the center of the Copernico (Copernicus) square. We are in Villini: a "garden city" of a futuristic period, such as those of Garbatella and Montesacro. It was built over 3 years starting in 1921 by the Cooperativa Termini (Terminal Cooperative), to ensure housing for railway workers.

Advancing, we come across the front of the cinema Aquila (www.cinemaaquila.com), restored in the functionalist style in 2008. Fascinated by the shapes of the windows, we are tempted to capture a conceptualistic image, careful not to exaggerate the angle shot.

After the war the quarter became a "suburb". Families of workers, mainly from central/southern Italy, moved to Pigneto, settling in homes often provisionally. For evocation we cross through Casilina and reach Via del Mandrione. We photograph the faded spots of plaster under the arches of the Roman aqueduct that, opportunely closed, constituted temporary shelters. Interesting, to delve further: the "sound walks" organised by the boys of Studio 71, 97 via Ettore Giovenale. After Piazza del Pigneto, cautiously climbing the closed ramp of the ring road, we do not miss the opportunity to night-photograph the ATAC tram depository, which spreads out, illuminated, below us. We are careful to avoid over exposure, to attenuate the brightest points and capture details, even in the darkest zones.

Step 2: Fascism - the neoclassicism of Piacentini

With fascism, functionalism became the architecture of the regime, as we can understand in the EUR and the University City quarters.

The EUR was built for the Universal Exposition in 1942 that was to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the fascist march on Rome. The project of Marcello Piacentini, presented in 1938, was inspired by classical Roman city planning: a system of streets on orthogonal axes; majestic buildings and squares, in white marble and travertine.

 
Illustrative is the so-called "Colosseo Quadrato" ("Square Colosseum"), the Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana (Palace of Italian Civilization) realised by Guerrini, La Padula and Romano in 1940, with 6 horizontal rows of 9 arches on each side. We try to reproduce the spectral aspect that it takes on at night, deliberately moving the camera when the exposure is almost complete, to produce a double exposure of images that creates an almost ghostly effect. Also interesting is the Palazzo dei Congressi (Congressional Palace) by Adalberto Libera (1938), who in 1930 founded the MIARI (Italian Movement for Functional Architecture), which then was forced to disband under fascism.

The main entrance of University City, was inaugurated in 1935 and it is located in Aldo Moro Square. The layout, also designed by Piacentini, should remind us of a Roman Castrum, with orthogonal axes and a "hole" in the centre. The most interesting building is the Istituto di Fisica (Institute of Physics), by Giuseppe Pagano. Photographing it in black and white in the late afternoon when the light is warmer and diffused, we try to frame it from below with the sky on its shoulders, emphasizing verticality.

Step 3: The reconstruction - Ridolfi and neorealism

We move over to Piazza Bologna to photograph the Post Office building built in 1933 by Mario Ridolfi. Despite the end of the war, many of its representatives were sidelined for collusion with the regime, it was again functionalism that dictated the development of Italian architecture: as the nearby cinema Jolly demonstrated, in Giano della Bella street, realised by Francesco de Intinis in 1947. Taking a cue from the cinema, the new functionalism was defined as "neo-realist". The most significant model of the post-war reconstruction of public buildings was expressed in the INA-Casa quarter, built between 1949 and 1963 with funds managed by the Istituto Nazionale delle Assicurazioni.

The symbol is the intervention at the Tiburtino quarter, in an area of 9 hectares with 4 thousand inhabitants, which engaged Ridolfi and Quaroni between 1949 and 1954. Here, walking on the via Angeli, via Arbib, via Cesana, via dei Crispolti and via Lucatelli, we try with a camera to render the contrast between the best intentions of the neo-realists and building speculation following the economic boom of the 60’s. The light, choked by the buildings, is missed; we are without a tripod and for the panoramic views we chose the rule of 16, reversing the ISO to select the shutter speed (for example an ISO 200, we set the time at 1/200^th of a second at f/16).

We conclude our experience in the centre, in the Augusto Imperatore square. The glass casket placed here by Vittorio Morpurgo in 1938, the same architect that did the Fascist Party headquarters in Rome, to contain the Ara Pacis of Augustus, was replaced in 2006 by that of Richard Meier. Some people paint it, we photograph it.

Useful Info:

-      Documents and currency: Italy belongs to the European Union and has adopted the Euro.

- How to arrive: Ciampino (www.aeroportodiciampino.com), located 15 km from central Rome and Fiumicino (www.aeroportofiumicino.net), at 32 km, are the airports of the Eternal City.

-  Duration: To get an exhaustive idea of Rome even a full week is insufficient; for our trip two days were sufficient.

-      When to go: The only months we do not recommend are the months of July and August, when university city and the streets of EUR are deserted.

-      Photos and video: For those who have more time available, photography courses are recommended, organized by the Istituto Superiore di Fotografia (www.isfci.com) of San Lorenzo and the cinema lessons of the Alphaville cineclub (www.cineclubalphaville.com ) of Pigneto.

- Literature, films, volunteering: The director and writer Pier Paolo Pasolini masterfully painted the poignant poetry of the Pigneto quarter. The house of Accattone (1961), the protagonist of the film of the same name, is in Via Ettore Giovenale, the Necci bar (www.necci1924), which hosted the casting, on the corner between via Fanfulla da Lodi and via Braccio da Montone Federico Fellini, in 1962, set Le tentazioni del dottor Antonio (The Temptation of Dr. Antonio) against the backdrop of the Square Coliseum, one of the episodes in the film, Boccaccio 70. The Manuale dell’Architetto (Manual of the Architect), published by Ridolfi 1946 should be studied; interesting voluntary activities are organised by ARCI (www.arci.it).

Category: Tours