The History and the Project
The story of the various phases of construction starting from the sketches by Enrico Del Debbio
Ministero degli Affari Esteri già Casa Littoria: studio della facciata principale (1940) by Enrico Del DebbioMinistero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale. Collezione Farnesina
A complex project
On October 28 1937, Mussolini gives the first pick stroke that starts the construction of the future Casa Littoria. The current Palazzo della Farnesina, however, is the result of a complex architectural project.
From the beginning, the position was problematic. Only after several hypotheses, the building found his place on the slopes of Monte Mario, near the Foro Mussolini, today the Foro Italico. The Palazzo is located within the ancient estate of the Farnese family, after which it takes its name.
Casa Littoria al Foro Mussolini: prima soluzione (1937) by Enrico Del DebbioMinistero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale. Collezione Farnesina
First project: Casa Littoria at the Foro Mussolini
The building was designed by Del Debbio, Foschini and Morpurgo who, in 1937, won the competitive call for having better expressed the idea that the complex was supposed to embody in terms of renewal of the Italian architecture.
A memorial monument for war martyrs and a Torre Littoria (Lictorian tower) should have been placed in the center of the square designed for meetings, square that was later transformed into a wheat field during the war.
Ministero degli Affari Esteri già Casa Littoria: soluzione definitiva (1940) by Enrico Del DebbioMinistero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale. Collezione Farnesina
The third project: the selected solution
From the Casa Littoria to the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Casa Littoria al Foro Mussolini: prima soluzione (1937) by Enrico Del DebbioMinistero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale. Collezione Farnesina
The initial project included the construction of a new bridge on the road connecting the complex to the Flaminio district, which was never built.
Casa Littoria al Foro Mussolini: assonometria generale della seconda soluzione (1938) by Enrico Del Debbio, Arnaldo Foschini, Vittorio MorpurgoMinistero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale. Collezione Farnesina
The second project
Afterwards, for the Courtyard of Honour a second proposal was created with a perspective view that had the Lictorian tower behind the building and not in the square before it, where initially it was supposed to be placed.
Casa Littoria al Foro Mussolini: la corte d'onore e la torre littoria nella seconda soluzione (1938) by Enrico Del DebbioMinistero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale. Collezione Farnesina
This created a scenographic dialogue with the green ridge of Monte Mario, in particular due to the staircase that opened up in the Courtyard of Honour, which was later replaced by a three-level monumental fountain.
Ministero degli Affari Esteri già Casa Littoria: soluzione definitiva (1940) by Enrico Del DebbioMinistero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale. Collezione Farnesina
In April 1940, the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were transferred to the building, which was already in an advanced state of construction. In the square, the structure is simplified by renouncing the arengarium, the martyrs' memorial and the lictorian tower.
Prospetto frontale del Palazzo della Farnesina (1955/1960)Ministero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale. Collezione Farnesina
World War II: the work stops
Construction work on the building was interrupted during the war and resumed in 1956. In 1959, the new Ministry of Foreign Affairs headquarters was inaugurated, and the offices, previously located in Palazzo Chigi, were transferred here.
Ministero degli Affari Esteri: studio per uno degli atri (1958) by Enrico Del DebbioMinistero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale. Collezione Farnesina
The interiors
In the meantime, work was resumed, again under the direction of Del Debbio, and involving this time the organization of the interior spaces.
Ministero degli Affari Esteri già Casa Littoria: progetto dell'Anticamera degli Ambasciatori con il controsoffitto di Francesco Coccia (1958/1959) by Enrico Del DebbioMinistero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale. Collezione Farnesina
Del Debbio's sketches, whose originals are stored at the MAXXI National Museum of Art and Architecture, present decorative solutions that are never banal: see the multicolored marbles chosen to clad the halls on the first floor, as well as for the Ambassadors' Antechamber...
Ministero degli Affari Esteri: progetto della Sala della Vittoria con il controsoffitto di Amerigo Tot (1958/1959) by Enrico Del DebbioMinistero degli Affari Esteri e della Cooperazione Internazionale. Collezione Farnesina
... and for the Victory Room.
The story is created in collaboration with Touring Club Italiano
Credits: © Archivio Enrico del Debbio; ©MAXXI, Roma. Centro Archivi Architettura
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