Casa del Fascio The Eclectic Puzzle

• Published in: The Meaning of Modern Architecture pp. 123 - 132
• Main Author: Morgenthaler, Hans Rudolf
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: United Kingdom Routledge 2015; Taylor & Francis Group
• Edition: 1
• Subjects: Art styles: c 1960; History of architecture; Psychological theory & schools of thought; Theory of architecture; Theory of art; Julius Posener; Interior Courtyard; Modern Functional Building; Late Roman Art Industry; Mezzanine Floor; Vertical Bays; Deutsche Bauzeitung; Cubical Building; 18th Century Architect; Riegl's Conception; Tugendhat House; Artistic Volition; Dutch Group Portrait; Paul Westheim; Exterior Lead; Author's Collection; Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye; Barcelona Pavilion; Casa Del Fascio; Grid Wall; Central Bays; Grid Screen; Riegl's Theory
• ISBN: 9781138572348; 9781472453013; 1138572349; 1472453018
• DOI: 10.4324/9781315555669-10

The first impression one has of this is of a cubical building, lower than it is wide. The main façade is divided into a grid measuring 4×7, as the flat panel on the right measures 2x4 grid squares of the open façade on the left (Figure 9.1). The most plausible ordering system of this façade is symmetrical with three vertical bays in the center flanked by two on either side. The central section indicates the placement of the interior covered two-story courtyard. 1 This ordering scheme is continued on the three other sides of this building (Figure 9.2). On the entrance façade, this reading is corroborated because the three central bays have an open roof, as well as, glass walls on the ground level a distance behind the façade. At that level, the two flanking bays on the left are closed by low walls. The fact that the façade is actually formed as a grid lets one sees into-and on top through-it. The grid further indicates that there are four floors inside this building. This is confirmed on the other sides. The diagonals of each side determine a few points, such as the height of the mezzanine floor. 2 The surfaces are of stone, and this grid wall is set slightly before the proper façade with metal railings and fenestration. On all four exterior walls, the viewer is faced by the same ambiguity between divisions suggesting a straightforward ordering scheme and features contradicting such regularity. The order is introduced through geometric division, the contradictory features are functional, namely window openings in various sizes and configurations. The viewer is thus prompted to stay alert, ready to dissect this exterior visually. The façades of the Casa del Fascio begin to articulate a conversation between an ideal realm of architecture that determined Classical buildings and a human one that determines Modernist designs. The Classical parts form a Cartesian screen through which one perceives the Modern functional building. This ambivalence must have been part of the original design, since an early drawing depicts an abbreviated tower on the right part of the building, slightly behind the front and sticking up over the roof like a ladder. This would have broken the perfect cubic perfection of the executed building, something Terragni clearly did not wish for. 3