5 Madeleine WELLHAM Dissertation Final Manuscript

RATIONALISM,
FASCISM,
AND,
EDUCATION
A critique of the manifestation of Fascist ideology and rhetoric in

Giuseppe Terragni’s infant school, the Asilo Sant’Elia, Como, 1932-
1937.
Madeleine Wellham, Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University

Figure 1: Infant of the Asilo Sant’Elia:
An infant stands in the open courtyard of the Asilo Sant’Elia. The silhouette of the Castel Baradello can be seen towering
over the school in the distance.

RATIONALISM,
FASCISM,
AND,
EDUCATION
A critique of the manifestation of Fascist ideology and rhetoric in

Giuseppe Terragni’s infant school, the Asilo Sant’Elia, Como, 1932-
1937.
Madeleine Wellham, Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the degree of MArch, 2019/2020
Supervised by Wesley Albrecht

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION…………………………..…………..…………………...……………..12
1.0 THE FASCIST STATE………………………………….…………………..…...17

1.1 A new epoch 17
1.2 The regime and the youth 18
2.0 A FASCIST ARCHITECTURE?…………………...…………..........………….20

2.1
A plurality of styles 20
2.2
Architecture and Politics 21
3.0 THE ASILO SANT’ELIA………………………………………..………...……..23

3.1 Giuseppe Terragni 23
3.2 Conception 23
3.3 Client 26
3.4 Design 26
4.0 ‘A HOME FOR A LARGE FAMILY’…………………....………………...……..30

4.1 The Fascist household 31
4.2 ‘Scrupulous hygiene’ 32
4.3 ‘Fascism is a glass house’ 34
4.4 The ‘Medicine’ of ‘light and air’ 36
5.0 ‘THE PRIMARY INSTRUCTION OF THE PEOPLE’ ………..….....………..41

5.1 The Gentile Reforms: The scuole complementari 42
5.2 A Social Obligation 42
5.3 The Gentile Reforms: A fascist curricula 45
5.4 ‘Serene Spirituality’ 46
6.0 NOBLE SOCIAL MISSION’………………………………………………...…..49

6.1 Fascist nationalism 50
6.2 The ‘throng’ of the masses 50
6.3 Servants of Fascism 51
6.4 Furnishing the ‘Fascist’ Interior 52
7.0 MODERNIST OR FASCIST?………...……………………………..……..…..54

7.1 European vs Italian Modernism 55
7.2 Transformation of [Italian] Tradition 55
7.3 A ‘Fascist’ Modernism 60
CONCLUSION……………………….………………………..…………………………..63
BIBLIOGRAPHY..……………………………………..…………………………………...66
APPENDICES …………………………………..……………..……………………...…..71
ABSTRACT
The architecture of the Italian fascist state and the key works completed by Giuseppe
Terragni in the fascist era have inspired extensive historiography. To date, literature
has largely neglected the subject of the Asilo Sant’Elia, an infant school conceived
in the midst of Benito Mussolini’s ventennio dictatorship and completed in 1937.
Typologically second only to his conceptual Clarita nursery project in 1932, the Asilo
Sant’Elia was Terragni’s first built foray into pedagogic architecture and served as
a transgressive and transformative vehicle for his critical perceptions of the socio-
cultural ambitions of the fascist state.
This research aims to ascertain the extent to which Terragni engaged with the Asilo
Sant’Elia as a critical tool to interpret and represent the ambitions of the fascist regime
and the means by which political ideals and ideology were physically articulated. The
analysis will emerge from an interrogation of a report written by Giuseppe Terragni in
March 1935 and a 1936 Quadrante plate which highlight and discuss his vision for the
new infant school. Drawing on the extensive historical and contemporary discourse of
the fascist era provides a holistic picture of the context and conditions of the project.
The research grounds the building in the vision of the Italian state and European
aesthetic and pedagogic philosophies. Through the assay of the values underpinning
the school, a conclusion is drawn as to whether the building is deserving of a close
association with the Italian fascist regime.
Page 6
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I would like to thank Wesley Albrecht for his help and guidance throughout the writing
of this dissertation. Thank you also to Andrew whose patience with proof-reading was
invaluable and my family and friends, without whose encouragement and support
these past years, I would not be where I am today.

Fascism, Rationalism and Education . 2019-2020 . Page 7

ILLUSTRATIONS
FIG. 1 – Cover Image: Infant of the Asilo Sant’Elia

<https://www.comozero.it/socialabs/il-design-di-una-rivoluzione-giuseppe-terragni-e-
lasilo-santelia-una-grande-mostra/> [accessed 22 November 2019], ed. by author.
FIG. 2– ‘The cult of the Duce’

Christopher Duggan, A Conside History of Italy, 2nd edn (Cambrige: Cambridge
University Press, 2013), p. 225.
FIG. 3– ‘The fascist Balilla’

Chris Ware, <https://www.thoughtco.com/totalitarianism-authoritarianism-
fascism-4147699> [accessed 5 January 2020].
FIG. 4– ‘Map’
Thomas L. Schumacher, Surface and Symbol : Giuseppe Terragni and the
Architecture of Italian Rationalism, Architecture (London: Design and Technology
Press, 1991), p. 284.
FIG. 5– ‘Aerial view’

<https://www.archivioterragni.it/projects-como/asilo-sant-elia/> [accessed 22
November 2019].
FIG. 6 – ‘Floor plan’

< http://paolaperri.blogspot.com/2012/04/giuseppe-terragni-asilo-santelia-como.
html> [accessed 22 November 2019].
FIG. 7– ‘Front façade’

lasilo-santelia-una-grande-mostra/> [accessed 22 November 2019].
FIG. 8– ‘Rationalist form’

<http://www.lombardiabeniculturali.it/fotografie/schede/IMM-CO240-0000372/>
Page 8
[accessed 5 January 2020].
FIG. 9– ‘A band of light’

Thomas L. Schumacher, Casa Del Fascio, Como, Italy, 1932-1936 : Asilo Infantile
Sant’Elia, Como, Italy, 1936-17 (Tokyo: ADA Edita, 1994), p. 38.
FIG. 10– ‘Cantilevered portico’

FIG. 11– ‘Glazed corridor’

FIG. 12 – ‘Scrupulous hygiene’

Attilio Alberto Terragni, Daniel Libsekind and Paolo Rosselli, The Terragni Atlas : Built
Architectures (Milan: Skira, 2004), p. 109.
FIG. 13 – ‘Nurses’ room’

FIG. 14 – ‘Casa del Fascio’

<https://www.kubeitalia.it/comunicare-con-larchitettura/> [accessed 24 November
2019].
FIG. 15 – ‘Quadrante
FIG. 16 – ‘Asilo Sant’Elia’


FIG. 17 – ‘Open-Air school’
<https://photorator.com/photo/18494/cliostraat-open-air-school-for-the-healthy-child-
amsterdam-nl-by-jan-duiker-> [accessed 22 November 2019].
FIG. 18 – ‘Transparency
Thomas L. Schumacher and others, Casa Del Fascio, Como, Italy, 1932-1936 : Asilo
Infantile Sant’Elia, Como, Italy, 1936-17 (Tokyo: ADA Edita, 1994), p. 35.
FIG. 19 – ‘Scaled ‘per i bambini’

November 2019].
FIG. 20– ‘Fascist iconography’

FIG. 21 – ‘Outdoor play’

FIG. 22 – ‘Peer learning’

FIG. 23 – ‘Mussolini’
<https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jan/01/benito-mussolini-rehabilitation-
italy> [accessed 22 November 2019].
FIG. 24 – ‘Mussolini and the Youth’

<https://www.corriere.it/gallery/cronache/06-2010/dichiarazione-guerra/1/10-giugno-
1940-italia-guerra_7e19585e-6fc0-11df-b547-00144f02aabe.shtml?refresh_ce-cp>
[accessed 22 November 2019].
Page 10
FIG. 25 – ‘A ‘Fascist’ refectory’
FIG. 26 – ‘Spectacle’
FIG. 27 – ‘‘Fascist’ furniture’

FIG. 28 – ‘A ‘Fascist Classroom

<http://www.brambillaorsoni.com/wp/portfolio-item/larchitetto-2-settembre-ottobre-
2018-terragni-per-i-bambini-2/> [accessed 22 November 2019].
FIG. 29 – ‘Transformation of tradition’

November 2019].
FIG. 30– ‘Monumentality of Imperial Rome’

November 2019].
FIG. 31 – ‘Venustas’
Brian D. Andrews, Rationalism and Poetry: Terragni’s Asilo D’infanzia Sant’Elia
(Ames, USA: Culicidae Architectural Press, 2019), pp. 83-109.

INTRODUCTION
We maintain that Fascism deserves Fascism and that the old architects, rehashing and
regurgitating styles, are transforming Italy into a museum of itself. In this way, they are
depriving Fascism of its own architectural mark
-Gruppo 7, 31 March 19311
When Gruppo 7, a group of young, polemical rationalist Architects, presented a

manifesto to Benito Mussolini in 1931, bestowing architecture the status of a ‘deserved’
political opportunity, they appeared to plea to both the anti-individualistic agenda
and pioneering vision of the Italian fascist regime.2 This allegiance to the state vision
pervaded the intention of all Gruppo 7 members, not least founding member Giuseppe
Terragni, who in 1936 completed the Fascist Party’s provincial headquarters, the Casa
del Fascio, in Como and was later entrusted with the design of an infant school on the
periphery of the same city: the Asilo Sant’Elia.3
Conceived midway through Mussolini’s ventennio dictatorship, the Asilo Sant’Elia

was Terragni’s first built foray in pedagogic architecture.4 Gruppo 7’s declaration of a
revolutionary style accorded with Terragni’s design of the infant school; adopting the
formalising Italian rationalist language, the Asilo Sant’Elia was unlike the typical Italian
schools that had preceded it, both in aesthetic and principals. Commissioned by
Como’s municipal charitable organisation, the ‘congregazioni di carità,’ the new infant
school intended to serve 230 children from the neighbouring working-class district.5
In 1935, two years prior to the completion of the Asilo Sant’Elia, Terragni produced
a written report outlining the social, spatial and cultural ambition for the school.6
1 Il Gruppo 7, ‘The Rationalist Manifesto’ (Rome: 1931), cited in Bruno Zevi, ‘Gruppo 7: the Rise and Fall of Italian
Rationalism’, in Architectural Design 51 1/2 (1981), 41-43 (p. 43).
2 Ibid., p. 43.
3 Maristella Casciato and Cristiana Marcosana Dell’Erba, ‘Sant’Elia Infant School, Como’ in Modern Movement Heritage,
ed. by Allen Cunningham (London: E & FN Spon, 1998), pp. 103-108, (pp. 103-105).
4 Bruno Zevi, Giuseppe Terragni (London: Triangle Architectural Publications, 1989), pp. 117-125.
5 Giorgio Ciucci, ‘1934, 1936-1937 Asilo Infantile Sant’Elia a Como’, Giuseppe Terragni : Opera Completa (Milano: Electa,
1996), Trans. by author, pp.453-464, (p. 453).
6 Giuseppe Terragni, ‘Report’, in Archivio Terragni (Como: 1935) cited in Attilio Terragni, Daniel Libeskind and Paolo
Rosselli, ‘Sant’Elia Nursery School, Como’, The Terragni Atlas: Built Architectures (Milan: Skira, 2004), pp.62-117 (pp.
62-63). Refer to Appendix 1 for full report.
Page 12
Perhaps somewhat unsurprisingly given Gruppo 7’s adulation of Mussolini’s regime,
this 800-word report, translated and published in The Terragni Atlas (2004), venerated
the command of the new socio-cultural epoch, referring to the fascist regime as a
‘noble social mission.’7 Terragni’s favourable perception of the state was reiterated
in a second publication within a 1936 issue of Quadrante;8 a journal, noted by David
Rifkind, that ‘agitated for an architecture of the state.’9
Emerging from a close analysis of the 1935 report and Quadrante plate, this research
aims to ascertain the extent to which Terragni engaged with the Asilo Sant’Elia as
a critical tool to interpret and represent the ambitions of the regime and the means
by which political ideals and ideology were physically articulated. Terragni’s report
and Quadrante plate remain documents largely neglected from the exiguous analysis
of the Asilo Sant’Elia, revealing uninterrogated aspects of Terragni’s intentions and
presenting a new perspective on the Asilo as a statement of its socio-political climate.
Despite Terragni’s explicit allegiance to the fascist state, Italian architect, historian and
professor, Bruno Zevi has challenged the somewhat absent interpretations of the Asilo.
In his 1989 study entitled Giuseppe Terragni, Zevi remarked ‘It is all very well to give
the work of Terragni a Pirandellian interpretation, that concerns itself with the dilemma
of subject and mask, but which clearly remains superficial. For it does not take into
account his more salient works such as the Sant’Elia Infant School.’10 Zevi’s statement
appears to refer to Manfredo Tarfuri’s 1977 essay Giuseppe Terragni: subject and
“mask” in which Tarfuri argues that the masks of Terragni’s work were not of Pirandello,
but rather of surrealism; a play of ‘suspended identities’ and ‘magical realism’11 and in
which, ‘it is useless to seek other meanings.’12
Since Zevi’s publication, Architectural professor Brian Delford Andrews has recently
7 Ibid., pp. 62-63.

8 Giuseppe Terragni, ‘Scuole e bimbi’, in Quadrante 35/36 (1936), cited in Terragni, Libeskind and Rosselli, p. 114. Refer
to Appendix 2 for full Quadrante Plate translation, Trans. by author.
9 David Rifkind, The Battle for Modernism: Quadrante and the Politicization of Architectural Discourse in Fascist Italy
(Venice: Marsilio, 2012), p. 10.
10 Zevi, Giuseppe Terragni, p. 15.
11 Manfredo Tarfuri, ‘Giuseppe Terragni: Subject and “Mask”’, in Giuseppe Terragni: Transformations, Decompositions,
Critiques, ed. by Peter Eisenman (New York: Monacelli Press, 2003) pp. 273-293 (pp. 275, 280).
12 Ibid., p. 292.

suggested that the Asilo Sant’Elia indicates a moment in Terragni’s career uninhibited
by the political backdrop and less compelled with capturing the rhetoric of the regime.
As Andrews remarks in his publication, Rationalism and Poetry (2019), ‘the Asilo was
designed during the most tranquil period of Terragni’s all-too-short career, during a
time when […] he [was not] under the political microscope of the Stile Littorio (Fascist
Architectural Authority),’13 and accordingly, Terragni was ‘no longer shackled to the
stylistic patrimony of the city proper.’14
Whilst Zevi and Andrews equate the Asilo Sant’Elia with a deviation by Terragni from
his traditionally fixed polemics, an interrogation completed by the leading academic
Thomas L. Schumacher (1994) draws direct comparison between the principals and
volumetric decisions employed at the infant school and Terragni’s explicitly fascist
Casa del Fascio and further speculates on the influence of European Modernism. This
analysis is complimented by Georgio Ciucci’s Giuseppe Terragni; Opera Completa
(1996), and an essay by scholar Maristella Casciato et.al, Sant’Elia Infant School,
Como (1998), which both elaborate upon the conception and composition of the final
building, albeit without comment on its political position.
This study thus considers the context and influences of European Modernism and
the simultaneously formalising pedagogic philosophies on Terragni’s design of the
infant school. Across neighbouring western nations, developments in the design of
academic institutions were compelled by the educational philosophies of figures
such as Steiner and Montessouri, elaborated by Mark Dudek’s discussions in the
architecture of schools (2000) and Gina Greene who explores the developments of the
hygiene focused écoles maternelles across France (2017).
Closer to home, Italy was similarly at the height of a series of education reforms
implemented by the Italian philosopher and educator, Giovanni Gentile. The writings
of Constance Stecher (Education under Fascism, 1938) and Richard Wolff (Italian
Education During World War II, 1992) discuss the ambitions of the Gentile reforms,
13 Brian Delford Andrews, Rationalism and Poetry: Giuseppe Terragni's Asilo D'infanzia Sant'Elia (Ames, USA: Culicidae
Architectural Press, 2019), p. 8.
14 Ibid., p. 9.
Page 14
with Wolff describing the newly founded fascist education system an ‘impressive
propagandist feat and a considerable success in the perpetuation of a specific
ideology.’15 Whilst Gentile reforms focused on infiltrating the pedagogic environment,
socio-cultural changes were implemented across Italy at a national scale, observed by
authors including historian Christopher Duggan (A concise history of Italy, 2013) and
professor Simonetta Falasca-Zamponi (Fascist Spectacle, 1997).
Considering this, the research presented here will comprise a fusion of historical,
historiographical and contemporary material. The essay will refer to primary sources
in the forms of photographs, Terragni’s 1935 report, Quadrante plate, drawings and
declarations made as part of Gruppo 7. Contemporary observations of the infant
school made by figures such as Ciucci and Andrew’s, alongside personal critical
observations established through cultural parallels found within the aforementioned
publications intend to reveal the possible political intentions that informed the Asilo
Sant’Elia. This research will address a gap in the extensive prose that covers the fascist
architectural era; the Asilo Sant’Elia remaining a subject largely neglected from English
critical discourse and altogether overlooked on the implications of the political milieu.
The first chapter of this essay ‘the fascist state’ will briefly contextualise the rise of
and socio-cultural conditions generated by the regime with particular focus on the
youth aspects. Specific policies will be further elaborated at the beginning of each
research chapter. The second chapter ‘A fascist architecture’ outlines the challenges
and precedents informing this method of interrogation. A final contextualising chapter
‘the Asilo Sant’Elia,’ introduces Giuseppe Terragni and the conception and design of
the infant school.
Introduced by contextualising paragraphs, the subsequent four chapters comprise the

main body of analysis, referring to key statements made by Terragni and identifying
thematic relationships between the new political climate. The first chapter, ‘A home for
15 Richard J. Wolff, ‘Italian Education in World War II: Remnants of Failed Fascist Education, Seeds of the New Schools’,
in Education and the Second World War: Studies in Schooling and Social Change, ed. by Roy Lowe (London: Falmer
Press, 1992), pp. 73-83 (p. 73).

a large family,’ investigates Terragni’s statement responding to the heightened status
of the home, and with it, the concerns of health and light. The second chapter and
focus statement, ‘The primary instruction of the people,’ discusses the implications
of the Gentile reforms on both the philosophy and iconography of the Asilo. The
final chapter emerging from Terragni’s report, ‘A noble social mission’ explores the
relationship between the school and the behaviour of its occupants; a notion equally
imperative to the fascist form of instruction witnessed by state attempts to instil military
obedience and nationalism. A fourth analytical chapter, ‘modernist or fascist’ refers to
architectural historian Dennis Doordan’s observations concerning the distinguishing
of ‘fascist’ architecture, seeking to define the Asilo from European Modernism.
These arguments are concentrated in the conclusion where Terragni’s aesthetic and
philosophic principals are bought together to determine whether the Asilo Sant’Elia is
deserving of a close association with the fascist regime.
Page 16
1.0 THE FASCIST STATE
1.1 A NEW EPOCH
Observed by Falasca-Zamponi, Italy had emerged from World War I ‘clamouring for
new models of political rule,’16 and so, on October 30, 1922, following a growing sense
of governmental disenchantment, Mussolini led the Blackshirts in a ‘March on Rome;’ a
proclaimed ‘revolution’ that was exploited by the new political leader as an opportunity
to mythicise the beginning of a new era.
Figure 2: The Cult of the Duce:

Mussolini addressing a crowd in
a stadium at Venice. During the
1930’s (partly under the influence of
Nazism) fascism made increasing use
of choreographic staging in its bid to
mobilise the masses.
16 Simonetta Falasca-Zamponi, Fascist Spectacle : The Aesthetics of Power in Mussolini's Italy (Berkeley: University of
California Press, 1997), p. 5.

Over the course of Mussolini’s ventennio dictatorship, a series of social policies that
targeted cultural and welfare aspects materialised. These included family allowances,
insurances and holiday pay. Uniting these often-disparate policies was the ambition
of engineering political support. Rather than financial orthodoxy, policies sought to
cultivate loyalty to Il Duce and a sense of nationalism; notions reinforced through
spectacles, rallies and speeches which would gather and mobilise the uniformed
‘masses’, creating the ‘totalitarian’ state that Mussolini asserted ‘a synthesis and a unit
inclusive of all values’ (Figure 2).17
1.1 THE REGIME AND THE YOUTH
Mussolini’s regime quickly recognised the importance of the youth, starting in 1922
with a series of education reforms led by the secretary of education, Giovanni Gentile.
which sought to introduce political and religious doctrines at a young age.18 These
were accompanied by a series of recreational organisations that formed the Opera
Nazionale Balilla (ONB), comprising the Balilla, Avanguardie and Piccole Italiane which
introduced sports and para-military aspirations to young children (Figure 3).
In addition to the ONB, the newly established Opera Nazionale Dopolavoro targeted
cultural and welfare aspects, providing clubs, recreational facilities, concerts, plays
and cheap summer holidays to the children of working-class families.19 Starting in the
early 1920’s, children’s holidays to the seaside, mountains or sun-therapy centres
stemmed from the ‘body politic’ culture of the totalitarian regime; namely its pursuit of
‘fit and healthy’ bodies.20
Together, the policies and programmes offered by the fascist regime sought to foster
commitment and pride in the nation, delivering a ‘new, stronger generation of Italians
who could resurrect an empire for Rome,’ and would ensure the continuation of
Mussolini’s vision.21
17 Benito Mussolini, La Dottrina Del Fascismo (Rome: Ardita Publishers, 1935) pp.7-42.
18 Constance F. Stecher, 'Education under Fascism', in The Social Studies, 29.4 (1938), 173-77, (p. 173).
19 Christopher Duggan, A Concise History of Italy, 2nd ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), p. 227.
20 Paul Overy, Light, Air & Openness: Modern Architecture between the Wars (London: Thames & Hudson, 2007), p.116.
21 Eden K. McLean, Mussolini's Children: Race and Elementary Education in Fascist Italy (USA: UNP, 2018), p. 2.
Page 18
Figure 3: The Facist Balilla:
The Balilla youth organisation targeted
boys aged eight to fifteen, preceding their
entry into the Avanguardie (fifteen to
eighteen). There was a heavy emphasis
on sports, paramilitary and uniformity.

2.0 A FASCIST ARCHITECTURE?
2.1 PLURALITY OF STYLES
Almost inevitably, any essay about Italian fascist architecture must confront the problems
of defining this diverse and pluralistic era. Mussolini’s political inconsistencies and
efforts to appeal simultaneously to diverse aspirations and social groups facilitated the
emergence of a number of architectural styles. Stated by architectural historian and
professor Diane Ghirardo, Mussolini developed a ‘Scotch Douche’ attitude to foreign
and domestic policy, where ‘continually changing his ground so that he could appear
both democrat and authoritarian, radical and reactionary, socialist and anti- socialist,’
enabled each faction to ‘point to instances where official blessings accompanied their
work.’22
The extensive building campaign pursued by the fascist state over the 1920-40’s led
to the rapid expansion of both urban and rural areas, but this timeframe alone did
not categorise that the buildings were ‘fascist’ in intention, asserted by Doordan who
states ‘it would be wrong to assume that everything designed and built in Italy in those
years is an example of fascist architecture [...] The material is too varied for any single
term to serve as an identifying adjective.’23
Though Doordan observes ‘the relationship between rationalist architecture and politics,
[to be] one of the dominant themes of literature devoted to Italian architecture,’24 there
remains a disparity in discourse surrounding the classifications that define the political
content of architecture. Whilst Peter Eisenman postulates a hermetic perception of
architecture- ‘architecture as independent discourse’- of postmodernist figures
including Terragni (Transformations, Decompositions, Critiques, 2003), this research
adopts the stance of figures such as Doordan, Ghirardo and architectural historian
22 Diane Yvonne Ghirardo, ‘Italian Architects and Fascist Politics: An Evaluation of the Rationalist’s Role in Regime
Building’, in Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, 39.2 (1980), 109-27, (p. 112).
23 Dennis P. Doordan, 'The Political Content in Italian Architecture During the Fascist Era', in Art Journal, 43.2 (1983), 121-
31, (p. 121).
24 Ibid., p. 121.
Page 20
David Rifkind, who present ‘fascist’ architecture, as a vehicle of cultural expression. 25
Accordingly, in analysis of the Asilo Sant’Elia, this research will refer to Doordan’s
parameters for determining and classifying the political content of architecture in the
fascist period, namely iconic, typological, economic and ideological, presented in his
1983 essay The Political Content in Italian Architecture During the Fascist Era.26 These
parameters both contain the Asilo within a broader nexus and provide a framework for
its analysis.
2.2 ARCHITECTURE AND POLITICS
Just as architecture is intrinsically joined to political and economic structures by virtue of its
production, so, too, its form – its meaning as a cultural object- carries political resonances.
- Mary McLeod27
Architectural professor Mary McLeod’s observations in her article Architecture and

Politics in the Reagan Era: From Postmodernism to Deconstructivism (1989) address
the particular manifestation of the political and social climate in the built environment.
McLeod suggests that architectural politics reveals itself in two forms, namely
economic and cultural, and analysis ‘must go beyond labels of good and bad, and
must search to discover in this complex matrix instances of social entrenchment and
genuine critique.’28
McLeod’s notions are paralleled by Rifkind who counterparts the socio-cultural

developments of fascist Italy with Terragni’s Casa del Fascio. In The Battle for
Modernism (2012), Rifkind equates the formal devices, language and hierarchies
employed by Terragni to statements and ideals expressed by Mussolini and the fascist
regime. The juxtaposition of physical aesthetics with social policies, demonstrates a
25 Mary C. McLeod, 'Architecture and Politics in the Reagan Era: From Postmodernism to Deconstructivism', in
Assemblage .8 (1989), 23-59, (p. 47).
26 Doordan, p. 121.
27 McLeod, pp. 25-26.
28 Ibid., p. 30.

critical reading of the relationships between the theories and ideals of the fascist state
and a specific architectural response.
Using Doordan’s criterion, the primary body of research within this study will emerge
from a close interrogation of Terragni’s 1935 report and 1936 Quadrante plate,
supported by analysis of historic photographs and statements made by Terragni within
Mussolini’s ventennio. In a similar manner to the aforementioned publications, critical
observations will be established through cultural parallels to the social policies and
programmes of the fascist regime.
Page 22
3.0 THE ASILO SANT’ELIA
3.1 GIUSEPPE TERRAGNI
A self-declared and vocal fascist proponent, Terragni’s commitment to the state

has been widely noted in contemporary literature, observed by figures such as the
architectural historian Henry Mallgrave who declared ‘the most significant modern
Italian architect of the 1930’s was unquestionably Terragni, who among the rationalists
of the time was also the most adamant supporter of fascist politics.’29
A steadfast fascist and unwavering rationalist, Terragni vocalised his intent to

deliver a visionary architectural renewal, representative of the logic, ‘masculinity and
strength’ of the new state, through declarations made within Gruppo 7, Quadrante and
individually.30 This commitment was physically formalised in Terragni’s state-funded
1936 Casa del Fascio in Como. Serving as the headquarters for the fascist regime,
Terragni’s rational edifice quickly assumed its place as an icon of the fascism through
its use as a monumental backdrop to political rallies and marches.31

3.2 CONCEPTION
The Asilo Sant’Elia project began in 1929 following the sale of a previous building
in provincial administration and the growing demand for a school in the developing
Sant’Elia neighbourhood (Figure 4). Facilitated in part by the national building
campaign pursued by the state, the new infant school, located on the outskirts of city,
was to be occupied by the children of the adults who worked in the neighbourhood’s
municipal washhouses and factories. 32 The client, the congregazioni di carità,
29 Harry Francis Mallgrave, Modern Architectural Theory : A Historical Survey, 1673-1968 (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 2005), p. 312.
30 Zevi, Architectural Design, p. 43
31 Ciucci, Giuseppe Terragni, Trans. by author, p. 454.
32 Archivio Terragni, 1934/ 1936-1937 Asilo Infantile Sant'elia a Como, Trans. by author, <https://www.archivioterragni.it/
projects-como/asilo-sant-elia/> [accessed 15 December 2019].

Figure 4: Map:
Map extracted from T.L. Schumacher’s ‘Surface and Symbol’ which shows the relationship between the Casa del Fascio (1) and
Asilo Sant’Elia (11), as well as indicating Terragni’s other projects in Como (2-10)
initially considered the redevelopment of an infant school located on the via Jacopo
Rezia and appointed the engineer Attilio Cattaneo, however, the location was eventually
determined too outlying to effectively serve the neighbourhood and Cattaneo failed to
respond in the desired manner.33
As such, it was not until 1932, three years subsequent to the initial conception of the
project that Terragni was approached by the president of the Carità congregation,
Damiano Cattaneo. Initially, the project was entrusted to Terragni’s brother, Attilio
Terragni, ‘who was already consultant to the institution for the maintenance of infant
schools,’ but in a letter dated February 1936 indicated that he had ‘put the whole
thing into the hands of his brother “with a sincere desire to endow the city with an
infant school on the most rational architectural principals.”’34 Accordingly, it was not
until 1934 when a piece of land just outside the walls of the old city was acquired
between the Via dei Mille and the Via Alciato, that Terragni began designing the school
in earnest.35
33 Ciucci, Trans. by author, p. 454.

34 Casciato, Modern Movement Heritage, p. 103.
35 Ibid., p.103.
Page 24
Figure 5: Aerial View:
Aerial view of Terragni’s model
showing the proposed ramp and
two-storey office wing that was
never realised
Figure 6: Floor Plan:

Terragni’s drawings of the flexible
ground floor plan and façades of
the Asilo Sant’Elia

3.3 CLIENT
Acknowledged in Terragni’s 1935 report, the commissioning client for the Asilo
Sant’Elia was the Como congregazioni di carità, presided by Damiano Cattaneo.36
Initiated by this municipal charity, the school was to be part of ‘a program of new
collective facilities for suburban areas.’37 The carità charities had been established in
the 19th century as institutions devoted to meet the needs of the poor population and
under the 1980 Crispi law became subject to official monitoring. This was elaborated
by academic Maria Quine;
The Napoleonic state devolved responsibility for the control of opere pie onto local authorities
by means of the congregazioni di carità (congregations of charity). Organized by prefects, these
municipal bodies comprising local notables were created to reorganize and administer charities.
However, these new agencies functioned primarily as a means for the government to gain control of
the assets of beneficent institutions.38
The supposedly ‘independent’ caritàs allowed the government to monitor the work of
municipalities and ultimately monitor the schemes, finances, decisions and politics of
each city.39 Like all carità’s, the Como congregazioni di carità was largely funded by
donations and proceeds, the spending of which was determined by the president;
a juridical figure appointed by the fascist state and who was indirectly responsible
for administering the demands of the regime.40 Consequently, the client for the Asilo
Sant’Elia had an indirectly yet fundamentally fascist agenda.
3.4 DESIGN
Following the acquisition of the site and noted by Schumacher in a 1994 Global
Architecture Journal, ‘Terragni was quick to arrive at his solution: a courtyard building,
36 Ciucci, Trans. by author, p. 453-455.

37 Archivio Terragni, Trans. by author.
38 Maria Quine, Italy's Social Revolution: Charity and Welfare from Liberalism to Fascism (Basingstoke: Palgrave
Macmillan UK, 2002), p. 8.
39 Ibid., p. 8.
40 Enciclopedia Italiana, Congregazione Di Carità, Trans. by author (Treccani, Enciclopedia Italiana). <http://www.treccani.
it/enciclopedia/congregazione-di-carita_%28Enciclopedia-Italiana%29/> [accessed 22 November 2019].
Page 26
Figure 7: Front Facade:
Archival photograph of the broad
unornamented concrete façade that
faced the street edge. Entry through
the glazed central opening led into a
central hall that revealed the internal
courtyard.
Figure 8: Rationalist Form:

A photograph of the central courtyard
illustrates the changing relationship
between the structure (columns)
and façade with each orientation.
On the north façade columns stand
independent of structure, whilst
south columns sit behind glazing.

like the Casa del Fascio,’ yet despite this, the process was not without challenge.41
Between the project’s conception in 1934 and its inauguration in 1937, a series of
financial cutbacks meant the Asilo Sant’Elia required four schemes before arriving at
the final iteration (Figure 5). The impacts of the financial challenges are elaborated by
Schumacher;
In subsequent schemes a projecting pavilion at the right front of the plan was removed, giving
the building a flat, continuous façade […] the early schemes being more sumptuous than the final
building. In Scheme 1 there were only three classrooms (there were four classrooms in the final,
smaller, building) and an enormous center hall with a glass-enclosed atrium in addition to the
outdoor court. Other elements of Terragni’s preliminary projects eliminated in the final version
include a grand entry canopy, a two-story office block (on the north side of the plan), and a curved
ramp to the roof. Scheme 3 is close to the final building. The two-story office wing, the curved ramp,
and the entrance canopy were removed only in the last iteration.42
The resulting building, is a modest single-storey structure which ‘elbows’ the edges of
the site, and is sequenced by entry through a recessed plane of glass and projecting
portico in an otherwise unornamented, broad concrete façade into a central ‘center
hall’ for recreation and gathering, overlooking the external open-courtyard beyond
(Figures 6-11). Comprising four classrooms; a dining room and its attendant facilities;
a locker room and accompanying sanitary and administrative facilities, natural light
permeates each aspect of the school through glazed façades.
41 Thomas L. Schumacher and others, Casa Del Fascio, Como, Italy, 1932-36 : Asilo Infantile Antonio Sant'Elia, Como,
Italy, 1936-37 (Tōkyo: ADA Edita, 1994), p. 43.
42 Thomas Schumacher, Surface & Symbol: Guiseppe Terragni and the Architecture of Italian Rationalism (London:
Architecture Design and Technology Press, 1991), p. 248.
Page 28
Images clockwise from top:
Figure 9: A band of light:

Terragni juxtaposes transparency
with solidity. A band of glazing breaks
through the solid wall reflecting
Terragni’s critical perceptions of the
fascist state; ‘delicacy with solidity,
transparency against opacity.
Figure 10: Cantilevered Portico:

An external covered portico on the
street edge manages the relationship
between children and the public
domain.
Figure 11: Glazed Corridor:

Terragni’s corridors are reimagined
through highly glazed spaces which
dually function as spaces for children
to ‘play.’ Declared by Terragni, they
reimagine the ‘long, monotonous
corridors’ that typified academic
institutions before.

4.0 ‘A HOME FOR A LARGE FAMILY’
Figure 12: Scrupulous Hygiene:

Archival photograph showing infants stood adjacent to the sanitary facilities. Terragni incorporated a
substantial sanitary provision in the infant schools amongst national fears of population health.
4.1 THE FASCIST HOUSEHOLD
Observed by Duggan, family households became the target of a significant demographic

campaign where ‘large families were extolled; prolific mothers were given prizes […];
family benefits were introduced…’43 These welfare schemes reflected the revised value
of the political contribution of the household to society. Elaborated by Casciato, within
Mussolini’s vision of a new Italy the home became perceived as a model of ‘political
order and as a tool to achieve the modernisation of Italian lifestyle.’44
The regime’s familial campaigns intended to increase the Italian population,45 but it
was not only vital that they were numerous, but, as noted by Paul Overy, that they
had ‘sound and healthy’ bodies.46 Accordingly, hygiene and health, particularly of the
home, became forefront concerns for modern society. Elaborated by Lombardi-Diop,
this was marked by various programmes such as the mid-1920’s programme Opera
Nazionale Maternità e Infanzia which ‘began promoting the safeguarding of maternity,
social hygiene, and the health of children and women […] The ONMI’s “campagna
antitubercolare” focused on the role of mothers as guarantors of the cleanliness of
the domestic environment and on which, it was believed, children’s health highly
depended.’47
For these programmes to be effective, the state acknowledged that the principals
needed to extend beyond the home. Accordingly, the regime placed emphasis on
cleanliness outside the domestic environment, particularly within the academic realm,
where, observed by Stecher in 1938, the Gentile reforms comprised an ‘increase in
instruction in “hygiene”’48
43 Duggan, p. 220.
44 Maristella Casciato, 'The 'Casa All'italiana' and the Idea of Modern Dwelling in Fascist Italy', in The Journal of
Architecture, 5.4 (2000), 335-53, (p. 335).
45 Ibid. pp. 220-221.
46 Overy, p. 116.
47 Cristina Lombardi-Diop, 'Spotless Italy: Hygiene, Domesticity, and the Ubiquity of Whiteness in Fascist and Postwar
Consumer Culture', in California Italian Studies, 2.1 (2011), p. 4.
48 Stecher, p. 177.

4.2 ‘SCRUPULOUS HYGIENE’
Encouraged by the revised social prominence of the home, in his 1935 report on the
Asilo Sant’Elia, Terragni wrote,
The nursery school has today risen from the status of a “Depository for Children” to the dignity
of a Home for a Large Family. Of the home it has the qualities of playful welcoming, of scrupulous
hygiene, of serene spirituality.49
In a similar manner to which the state had bestowed the ‘home’ with an imperative
and integral status in modern society, Terragni considered academic institutions to
have acquired a new responsibility and ‘dignity’ in fascist culture. Equating the Asilo
Sant’Elia with a ‘Home for a Large Family,’ Terragni identified three qualities that derived
Figure 13: Nurses Room:

Archival photograph of the nurses’ room, equipped with sanitary facilities and the ‘Lariana’ chair. The nurses room contributed
to the forefront concern of hygiene that seemingly dominated Terragni’s design of the school.
49 Terragni, Libeskind and Rosselli, pp. 62-63.
Page 32
from domesticity, namely ‘playful welcoming,’ ‘spirituality’ and ‘hygiene.’ Echoing the
regime’s concerns, Terragni translated the State ideals into critical intentions that
augmented and justified the purpose of a school; hygiene was now to be considered a
pedagogic concern on par with ‘education’ and ‘learning;’
Caring for children was once considered to be a charitable work; society today offers the youngest
generation that which the people, all at work, are unable to give their children: education, hygiene,
learning.50
This concern for hygiene paralleled the fascist state pursuit for health and manifested
in Terragni’s formal response by a generous incorporation of an infirmary and extensive
sanitary and health-related provisions (Figures 12-13). These are remarked upon by
Terragni, where his disdain of hygiene ‘neglect’ is vocalised:
The building is, moreover, equipped with convenient and modern sanitary facilities divided by sex,
a shower room, a rest room and a block of ovens and a sink with its own sanitary services and a
separate entrance.
The shower room will have a bath in which the matron will bathe those children whose parents
neglect to keep them clean.51
The maintenance of academic hygiene extended to the layout, where, considered in

planimetric form, Schumacher observed that ‘the coat closet and lockers are located
immediately to the right of the entry, and their sequence is organized so that the children
can remove their coats and muddy shoes before entering the main hall and going
to class.’52 Accordingly, both in provision and plan, Terragni’s response to hygiene
ideals could be seen to physically articulate the wider ambition of the fascist regime
(exhibited in the OMNI campaign).
However, hygiene was not an exclusively fascist principal, in fact, as argued by Paul

51 Ibid., pp. 62-63.
52 Schumacher, Surface & Symbol, p. 246.

Atkinson, ‘the very roots of Modernism lie in altruistic attempts to improve health and
hygiene for all…[the] Modernist ideals of cleanliness and hygiene grew out of repulsion
at the bloody mess of the Great War, followed by the horror of an influenza pandemic.’53
The modernist movement had coincided with the development of the French Écoles
Maternelles, which addressed the bureaucratic anxieties about physical degeneration
and disease among French schoolchildren. These nursery schools had a specific
focus on hygiene, medical surveillance, and physical generation, with France, in the
same manner as fascist Italy, considering the physical and biological health of infants
critical to its future.54
Although ‘hygiene’ principals in pedagogic architecture had been a concern for

European modernists for over a decade, Terragni’s 1935 report augmented and
implied the relationship between education and hygiene as developing directly out
of the ambition of the fascist state. Accordingly, whilst hygiene focused schools such
as the Écoles Maternelles preceded the Asilo Sant’Elia, such philosophies were still
considered revolutionary in Italy. Given this, it is conceivable that Terragni embraced
ideological hygiene concerns to further imbue the Asilo with a ‘radical’ and nationalistic
sentiment.
4.3 ‘FASCISM IS A GLASS HOUSE’
Observed by Overy, in addition to hygiene, the fascist ideals of health became equated
with clean, ventilated and light spaces, so much so that in 1931 Italian writer, Lidia
Morelli wrote:
Better than in the past, the modern house reconciles the principals of wellbeing and economy.
Without clutter, without formalities, without prejudices, without useless and flamboyant parlours,
without out-of-place imitations of ancient styles, but with air, light, hygiene and comfortable
upkeep of simple and useful things.55
53 Paul Atkinson, 'A Clean, White World', in Design for Health, 2.1 (2018), 1-3, (p. 1).
54 Gina Greene, 'Architecture, Medicalization, and the Aesthetics of Hygiene at the Écoles Maternelles', in Canadian
Bulletin of Medical History, (2017), 9-41, (p. 9).
55 Overy, p. 58.
Page 34
Figure 14: Casa del Fascio:
Terragni’s 1936 Casa Del Fascio, Como, served as the headquarters of the Fascist regime. It was used as a vital instrument for
fostering public support through speeches and rallies which took place in the square outside. The rationalist building became
emblematic of fascist architecture.
Given Terragni’s analogy of the school as a ‘home,’ fascist ideals concerning ‘the modern
house’ acquired a relevance to the Asilo. Aside from realising health ideals, Morelli’s
observations revealed light and transparency as critical in domestic environments;
paralleled broadly by a synchronisation with the fascist rhetoric.
Following Mussolini’s declaration that ‘fascism is a glass house,’ and the completion of
Terragni’s 1936 Casa del Fascio, transparency had come to symbolise the metaphorical
honesty of the regime.56 Built in Como’s central Piazza, the extensively glazed Casa del
Fascio aspired ‘to alter the character, habits, and attitudes of its citizens in the making
of Fascist Italy,’ but critically represented the new ‘transparent’ form of government
through its literal openness.57 (Figure 14)

56 Peter Franklin, Why Fascism Is a Glass House (The Guardian, 2006) <https://www.theguardian.com/
commentisfree/2006/jun/23/fascismisaglasshouse1> [accessed 8 December 2019].
57 Lucy Maulsby, 'Case Del Fascio and the Making of Modern Italy',in Journal of Modern Italian Studies, 20.5 (2015), 663-
85, (p. 663).

4.4 THE ‘MEDICINE’ OF ‘LIGHT AND AIR’
Terragni’s perception of the relationship between health and environment was

reiterated in the polemical plate he published in the 1936 Quadrante journal, (Figure
15) declaring;
Four walls are enough to create a school building. The real economy consists in opening in these
four walls as many grandiose windows through which light and air burst, the only medicines that
children need.58
Asserting light and air as ‘the only medicines that children need,’ Terragni appeared
to refer to the regimes fixation with health. The ‘medicinal’ relationship between health
and light physically manifested in an architecture that was legible, light and in which
dematerialized walls allowed the building to open to the outside.59 Terragni elaborated
on this alternative to the monotony and confinement of the clinical aesthetic that had
previously dominated the design of Italian schools, commenting in his report;
An architecture that opens up the walls to the sun, greenery, light and nature. […] A Naturalist
architecture …
The concept […] that nursery school is to be considered a home for a large family, has encouraged
us to avoid long, monotonous corridors...60
Like hygiene, extensive glazing was not a new or exclusively fascist approach to
architecture. The origin of such a principal could be traced to the preceding and on-
going European Modernist Movement, of which Terragni and his Gruppo 7 colleagues
often referred to. These modernist ideas had already pervaded pedagogic environments
outside of Italy, marked by the development of open-air schools. Originating from
Berlin as early as 1904, open-air schools derived from the health concerns of children
affected by tuberculosis and undernourishment, and quickly gained support with
figures such as American doctor, Arthur T Cabot proclaiming that ‘in the future “all
58 Terragni, Libeskind and Rosselli, p. 114.

59 Archivio Terragni, Trans. by author.
60 Terragni, The Terragni Atlas, trans. by author, pp. 62-63.
Page 36
Figure 15: Quadrante:
Polemical plate placed by Terragni advertising the Asilo Sant’Elia in the explicitly Fascist Quadrante journal No. 35/36. The
plate praised the ‘wonderful things’ the fascist regime had done for schools and the renewal that was emerging in pedagogic
architecture.

schools will be open-air schools.”’61 In its physical form, the Asilo Sant’Elia’s slanted
awnings and openable structure reflected the principals articulated in Jan Duiker’s
Open-Air School in Amsterdam (1930), where glazed façades and outdoor ‘learning’
spaces created a play-based education environment (Figures 16-17).62
Associations of the Asilo with European modernism contravened Mussolini’s pursuit

of racial purity and Italianità to which Italian character was fundamental.63 However,
like the principal of hygiene, whilst his approach to light and the outdoors could be
considered European in origin, Terragni justified using such devices through a close
association to the rhetoric, aesthetic and social policies of the fascist state.
In the short time since it’s completion Terragni’s Casa del Fascio had become iconic
of the state. Observed by Terragni himself, no building ‘was more “endowed with
political prestige, propaganda value and revolutionary originality than the Casa del
Fascio.”’64 The subsequent similarity between the two rationalist buildings, namely in
the application of extensive glazing and concrete, led to Schumacher remarking in
1991, ‘the Asilo Sant’Elia is a glass house of learning, as the Casa del Fascio is a
glass house of Fascism. Everywhere we look there is a transparent wall or fragment.’65
Even Delford Andrews who has adopted a politically indifferent stance on the Asilo
asserted that the physical transparency of the school resonated with the ideological
fascist pursuit of honesty (Figure 18).66
Terragni’s repetition of the same rationalist language formalised at the Casa del Fascio,
whether intentionally or not, embedded the former ideals of the ‘fascist’ architecture in
the Asilo. Through this architectural language, Terragni set up a relationship between
the town’s built emblem of fascism and the building that would serve as the primary
point of entrance into fascist instruction; an infant school. Bookmarking the ends of
the fascist state influence, Terragni established, in Como at the very least, a fascist
influence that encompassed the full extent of the regime’s command.
61 S.C. Kingsley, Open-Air Schools (USA: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1917), p. 7 and Encyclopedia of Children and
Childhood in History and Society, Open-Air School Movement (Encyclopaedia.com, 2019) <https://www.encyclopedia.
com/children/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/open-air-school-movement> [accessed 30 December].
62 Schumacher and others, Casa Del Fascio, p. 43.
63 Ghirardo, p. 115.
64 Jeffrey T. C. Schnapp, 'The People's Glass House', South Central Review, 25.3 (2008), 45-56, (p. 45).
66 Andrews, Rationalism and Poetry, p. 66.
Page 38
Figure 16: Asilo Sant’Elia:
Terragni’s Asilo Sant’Elia
featured extensive glazing
and external play spaces. The
rationalist building appeared
to draw on principals founded
in European Modernism,
resembling the ideals articulated
in Jan Duikers’ open-air school
Figure 17: Open-air School:

Jan Duiker’s Open-Air School
which comprised large glazed
façades and external terraces
imagined a new form of education
and emerged from the concerns
about health of children.
Figure 18: Transparency:

The extensive application of
glass across both classrooms and
recreational spaces (refectory
pictured above) was praised at
the Asilo Sant’Elia. The internal
spaces were ‘bright, luminous
and spotlessly clean’ according
to Pagano. The glazing bars
were scaled to a child’s height,
adopting a scale that responded
to the small size of its infant
occupants.

Figure 19: Scaled ‘per i bambini’:
Terragni’s sketches for the Asilo Sant’Elia
documented his concern for creating a design
that responded to the scale of its infant
occupants. This manifested in ‘corrimano
per i bambini’- handrails for the children,
specified at a reduced, more accessible height.
The same concern was applied to the shallow
gradient stair, which rose slowly in sympathy
of its users physical proportions.
The extensive application of glazing at the Casa del Fascio had been criticised by figures
such as Giuseppe Pagano and Quadrante Journal co-founder, Massimo Bontempelli,
who labelled the edifice ‘aesthetic and expressive, but not strictly functional.’67 By
contrast, the critics who had renounced the Casa del Fascio praised Terragni’s Asilo,
with Pagano proclaiming in 1940; ‘a beautiful school, bright, luminous and spotlessly
clean, will foster in the child a natural feeling for hygiene, a spontaneous disposition
for order and cleanliness, the true mark of civilization.’68 Elaborated by Ciucci, this
praise arose, in part, from Terragni’s sympathy to the typical size of its occupants;
‘the use of glass blocks, which […] created a child’s-height protection strip in large
glazed surfaces, became a design theme, declined in various ways: in the entire walls
crossed by bands of transparent glass.69 Documented in Terragni’s sketches, this re-
proportioning of architectural instances extended the stairs and handrails (Figure 19).
Arguably, Terragni’s adjustments suggested an uncharacteristic sympathy compelled

by the creation of a socially, spatially and environmentally suitable environment, rather
than a pure and rigid adherence to a politically symbolic output (as witnessed in his
Casa del Fascio). The scaled alterations for the infants did not detract from the fascist
potency of the school; rather they somewhat realised the regime’s pursuit of social
efficiency and purity, whilst also introducing an alternative politically dissociated
aspect to Terragni’s intentions.
67 Rifkind, The Battle for Modernism, p. 199 and David Rifkind, '1933: One or Several Rationalisms', in Oriental-
Occidental: Geography, Identity, Space, ed. by Sibel Bozdoğan and Ülker Berke Copur (Istanbul, Turkey: Columbia
University, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, 2001), 33-35 (p. 34).
68 Casciato, Modern Movement Heritage, p. 105.
Page 40
5.0 THE PRIMARY INSTRUCTION OF
THE PEOPLE
Figure 20: Fascist Iconography:

Archival photograph showing the children in the classrooms, using the chairs and desks designed by
Terragni. The dividing screens have been pulled back to create a larger singular space. Portraits of
Mussolini and the crucifix can be seen repeated through the length of the opened space.
5.1 GENTILE REFORMS; THE SCUOLE COMPLEMENTARI
On 31st October 1922, Giovanni Gentile was appointed Secretary of Education. Over the
following 20 months, the former University professor sought to initiate a ‘pedagogical
renewal [that] would play a decisive part in the remodelling of the moral conscience of
the Italian people’ through a series of education reforms.70 Starting with the creation of a
new school typology, the scuole complementari, the reforms attempted to consolidate
fascist support and unite the country, as observed by Alessandra Tarquini, despite
‘political unification through the Risorgimento, [Italy] was still far from being a […]
spiritually united community.’71
Discussed by Wolff, the ‘scuole complementari’ were ‘designed to serve the ideological
purposes of the Regime’ and imagined a new form of physical learning, teaching
‘practical skills, cultivating a generation of workers, artisans and peasants.’72 Established
in the early 1920’s, these schools ideologically coordinated with the regime’s pursuit of
a skilled and physically capable workforce, but were soon abolished as they became
perceived as a ‘dead end’ leading to insignificant positions in the lower bourgeoisie.’73
Such intention could be witnessed across the breadth of society where the fascist
regime initiated a programme of thorough instruction, aspiring to create ‘the new
fascist man’ and a ‘politically reliable class from the lower socioeconomic groups.’ 74
5.2 A SOCIAL ‘OBLIGATION’
Despite Gentile’s ‘scuole complementari’ collapsing in 1929, they could be seen as

a catalyst for the following series of further intensified education reforms, new youth
organisations and ideological reviews that subsequently affected Italian education.75
In this context, Terragni’s assertion of the Asilo Sant’Elia as addressing the ‘primary
70 Alessandra Tarquini, 'The Anti-Gentilians During the Fascist Regime', in Journal of Contemporary History, 40.4 (2005),
637-62, (p. 637).
71 Ibid., p. 637.
72 Wolff, p. 73.
73 Ibid., pp. 73-74.
74 Ibid., p. 74.
75 Ibid., pp. 72-75.
Page 42
instruction of the people’ acquired a new significance;
[the school] gave me the opportunity to perfect the study of the important and interesting
architectural problem that is part of the larger problem and obligation of the primary instruction
of the people.76
Paralleling Mussolini’s concerns with adequate fascist instruction, Terragni’s report

appears to raise pedagogic philosophy to the fore. The importance is further iterated
by Terragni’s clarification of the issue as not just a ‘problem,’ but an ‘obligation.’
Interestingly, Terragni’s response to the fascist instruction manifests in what Terragni
labels a ‘naturalist architecture’ with an emphasis on practical, outdoor play, remarked
upon in his report;
The covered recreational area is provided with an open playground composed of a spacious portico,
a terrace, a lawn with trees and a play pool.
[...]
The area of land left free has been arranged and subdivided as a lawn with a pergola, a garden, a
vegetable garden for the pupils to experience growing things arid space for sand games. 77
Perhaps inspired by the principals of the new Italian ‘scuole complementari;’ Terragni’s
‘scuola dell’infanzia’ envisaged a more practical, outdoor and physical method of
learning than traditional (Figure 21). The notion of ‘growing things’ resonated with the
regimes agricultural and ‘rurality’ propaganda campaigns such as the 1925 ‘battle
of grain’ (which ironically despite promoting, did not receive the financial or welfare
support of the state).78
Established for a less affluent community in Como and aligning with the fascist concerns
for health, the Asilo appeared to derive directly from the critical concerns of both the
regime and the fascist scuole complementari. However, as previously established,
the concern for health was not an exclusive aspect of the fascism, and neither was

77 Ibid., pp. 62-63.
78 Duggan, pp. 217, 221.

Figure 21: Outdoor Play:
Archival photograph showing
the children enjoying the central
courtyard. Canvas awnings and
projecting canopies provided solar
protection. A series of outdoor
spaces encouraged learning
through physical play such as the
growing of vegetables.
Figure 22: Peer Learning:

Archival photograph showing
the children taking part in
peer-based ‘play’ learning; a
method of learning reminiscent
of the formalising pedagogic
philosophies of figures such as Dr.
Maria Montessori.
Page 44
the notion of outdoors and physical play in education. In fact, Terragni’s vision of the
‘playful welcoming’ and ‘learning’ that would take place in the Asilo Sant’Elia resonated
more closely with European education philosophies, elaborated by Dudek who writes;
The naturalistic settings sought for education at the beginning of the century, seen in early
examples such as the open-air, Steiner and Montessori schools, all carried within them themes
which run throughout the history of twentieth century school architecture. Initially viewed as an
issue relating merely to hygiene and the spiritual well-being of underprivileged children in the
newly industrialized cities, the desire to make the experience of education more suitable to young
children broadened to encompass other concerns.79
Established in the later part of the 19th Century, Maria Montessori’s pedagogic
philosophy incorporated self-directed, physical and collaborative play.80 Plausibly,
the extensive external and internal recreational spaces and flexible accommodation
of Terragni’s Asilo aligned itself towards an educational structure that adhered more
closely to the European philosophies than the formalising fascist Gentile education
system (Figure 22). However, whilst Terragni’s system was perhaps a fusion of fascist
and European philosophy, he could notionally pass off the Asilo as a product solely of
fascist instruction because Italy had yet to implement the philosophies of its western
neighbours.
5.3 THE GENTILE REFORMS; A FASCIST CURRICULA
Following the failures and weaknesses of the early Gentile reforms and the scuole
complementari, in 1927 fascist pedagogues initiated a second more totalitarian revision
of education. Accordingly, academic institutions became increasingly ‘fascitized’
through a ‘tampering’ of the curricular content and the circulation of official textbooks
which aligned with the fascist message.81 Foisted upon children in an apparent manner,
images of Il Duce proliferated in the scholastic environment, reinforcing the myth of
79 Mark Dudek, Architecture of Schools: The New Learning Environments (Abingdon: Routledge, 2012), p. 1.
80 Ibid., pp. 38, 53.
81 Wolff, p. 76.

‘Mussolini is always present,’82 and elevated the leader to ‘a quasi-divine state.’83 Whilst
these reforms were pervasive, particularly in the elementary grades, they comprised
notable concessions of power to a potential ideological rival: the Roman Catholic
Church, remarked upon by Wolff;
Catholics welcomed the teaching of religion in the elementary schools, religious textbooks, and
crucifixes in classrooms…For Mussolini, these concessions to the Church had strong political
overtones.84
5.4 ‘SERENE SPIRITUALITY’
At the front end of Fascist education, Terragni’s infant school was largely unaffected
by Gentile’s observed curricula that targeted elementary education upwards.
However, as revealed by analysis of original photographs, the iconographic aspects
of Mussolini’s regime permeated the Asilo (Figures 20, 28). Whilst it is hard to gauge
Terragni’s involvement in possibly transient pieces, declarations of the Asilo’s ‘spiritual
content’ implied his explicit awareness for both Gentile’s deference to the church and
deification of Mussolini;
A Naturalist architecture that takes its forms from rationalism and its spiritual content from the
noble social mission. The noble aims that preside over the institution of nursery schools can today
be expressed as a social duty. 85
Adopting the state held view of schools as instruments of propaganda, Ciucci describes
how elements of fascist iconography were incorporated in ‘a pulley system [which]
ran vertically behind a fixed panel with portraits of the leader and the ruler’ (Figures
23-24).86 In addition to portraits of Mussolini, crucifixes and fascist statements such
as curare i bambini significa curare la continuazione della stirpe con tutti i sudivalori
82 Kate Flint, 'Art and the Fascist Régime in Italy', in Oxford Art Journal, 3.2 (1980), 49-54, (p. 50).
83 Falasca-Zamponi, p. 65.
84 Wolff, p. 75. (Refers to Civiltà Cattolica, ‘La nuova riforma’, 1 March 1924).
Page 46
clockwise from top left
Figure 23: Mussolini:

Portraits of Mussolini served as a daily reminder of the ‘supreme leader.’ The portrait above can be
seen in the photographs taken of the classrooms in the Asilo Sant’Elia. (Figures 9, 17).
Figure 24: Mussolini and youth:

The above photograph portrays Mussolini and an infant in Balilla uniform. The same image can
be seen in photographs on the wall of the Asilo Sant’Elia dining hall. (Figure 12)
Figure 25: ‘Fascist’ Refectory:

Archival photograph showing the hall in use by the infants. A photograph of Mussolini, the
crucifix and the words ‘curare i bambini significa curare la continuazione della stirpe con tutti i
sudivalori supreme’ (taking care of children means taking care of the continuation of humanity
with its supreme values) can be seen in the background.

supreme (taking care of children means taking care of the continuation of humanity
with its supreme values) adorned the walls of classrooms and recreational spaces
(Figure 25). Consequently, daily learning took place under Mussolini’s watchful eye
and instruction, dually fortifying the omnipresent identity of Il Duce as a quasi-god
being and familiarising infants with their supreme leader.
As representations of Mussolini in schools proliferated, so too did religious iconography.

Echoing the religious emphasis of the Gentile reforms and Mussolini’s words, ‘Fascism,
in short, is not only a law-giver and a founder of institutions, but an educator and a
promoter of spiritual life,’87 portraits of Il Duce in the Asilo were often accompanied
by adjacently positioned religious iconography such as crucifixes or images of Jesus
(Figures 20,25). This hierarchy mirrored the near equal societal prominence of the
parochial and fascist state.88
Whilst portraits and statements were unquestionably fascist, Wolff observes that such
principals were implemented at state level, with ‘obvious and aggressive manner,’ so
fascist iconography in the pedagogic environment became the status quo.89 Zevi’s
summary of Asilo as ‘free from any intellectualism,’ accords with Wolff’s observations,
suggesting political activism was implemented by the state, rather than Terragni.90
However, this notion neglects Terragni’s passionate declarations of the Asilo deriving
its ‘spiritual content from the noble social mission.’91 Terragni’s report embeds the
iconography, and with it, the fascist preoccupation with order, obedience and
‘instruction of the people,’ as a deliberate, inherent and curated aspect of the school.
87 Mussolini, La Dottrina Del Fascismo.

88 Wolff, p. 75.
89 Ibid., p. 75.
Page 48
‘NOBLE SOCIAL MISSION

6.0 ‘NOBLE SOCIAL MISSION’
Figure 26: Spectacle:

Archival photograph showing the children gathering on the cantilevered portico at the front of the school.
The portico transformed the traditional arengario (balcony) architectural device which had become iconic
of fascist architecture, whilst creating a space both deeply functional and equally socially discursive;
declaring of both its infant occupants and the spectacle culture.
6.1 FASCIST NATIONALISM
Cultivating a sense of national unity encompassed the intentions of the fascist state
from its genesis in the March on Rome. Despite a relatively orthodox sequence of
events, Mussolini’s ascension to power was a proclaimed ‘revolution’ and the start of a
new united fascist epoch.92 The nationalistic sentiment infiltrated Mussolini’s visions of
society, whereby he declared in his 1932 ‘La Dottrina del Fascismo;’
Anti-individualistic, the Fascist conception of life stresses the importance of the State and accepts
the individual only in so far as his interests coincide with those of the State.
A nation exists inasmuch as it is a people. A people rise inasmuch as they are numerous, hardworking
and well regulated.93
The reduction of the individual and the celebration of the masses became implemented
across society through marches, rallies, demonstrations and performance, which
fostered public support and participation in the state programme.94 Observed by
Falasca-Zamponi, the population was considered a self-fuelling resource where
‘the “masses” were at the same time part of the fascist spectacle and fascism’s
spectatorship; they were acted upon and actors.’95
Within this cultural and aesthetic climate, the architect’s role was compelled with
synthesising the larger economic and social processes with the essence of ‘Italianità’
or, as the rationalists branded, ‘medditerraneità.’96
6.2 THE ‘THRONG’ OF THE MASSES
Whilst the equation of the Asilo Sant’Elia with a ‘home’ hinted at the idea of unity and the
93 Mussolini, La Dottrina Del Fascismo. (Refers to the General Assembly of the Party, March 1929 (Milano, Alpes: 1930),
p. 24).
95 Ibid., p. 25.
Page 50
state ideal of national collectivity, Terragni’s perception of the infants resonated with
the regime’s diminution of identity;
The main entrance is protected by an ample cantilevered portico that has the function of providing
shelters for the relations waiting for the children and for the children themselves as the throng to
the exit.97
Terragni’s suggestive description, throng, implied the active and co-ordinated spirit of
the regime which Mussolini had summarised as a ‘single economic and ethical entity.’98
Perhaps encouraged by the regime’s spectacle culture, the re-imagined fascist formal
device of the arengario (balcony) at the front of the school permitted a daily performance
of sorts (Figure 26). Whilst the arengario had become embedded within both Italianità
tradition and fascist culture (as an icon of Mussolini’s formal address), the enabling of
the masses had also materialised in Terragni’s former work, particularly the Casa del
Fascio, where spectacle had been tied to a specifically fascist purpose. Given this, it
seems reasonable that the potency of such a device would not be lost on Terragni.
The homogenizing forces of Mussolini’s nationalism were recapitulated in Terragni’s

report by a lack of possessive pronouns- for example ‘the’ over ‘their’ which denied
the relations ownership of their infants. Accompanied by a constant plurality (‘children’
over ‘child’), Terragni’s lack of possession and identity seem to sanction the fascist
commodification of the individual.99 In this regard, Terragni’s mentality when designing
the Asilo seemingly pertained to the fascist pursuit of a ‘single’ national identity.
6.3 SERVANTS OF FASCISM
Part of the nationalistic ambition of the fascist ‘noble social mission’ comprised
discipline and obedience to Il Duce. Physically this was witnessed in oaths of loyalty
and programmes of Italian remilitarization, which, through the Opera Nazionale Balilla

99 Ibid., and Terragni, Libeskind and Rosselli, pp. 62-63.

began as early as aged 8. After the Italian conquest of Ethiopia in 1935, Mussolini
became increasingly eager for war and conquest, culminating in an increased state
attempt to secure devotion to the nation.100
6.4 FURNISHING THE ‘FASCIST’ INTERIOR
In a similar manner to which Terragni incorporated the ideals of nationalism, internally

Terragni’s understanding of the transformative social power of design appeared to
emerge from the fascist sentiments of obedience, philosophic stoicism and eagerness.
Within the classrooms of the Asilo Sant’Elia, Terragni placed the same provocative
Lariana chair that he had developed for his Casa del Fascio (Figure 27). A recent
analysis conducted by Rifkind argued that the Lariana articulated Terragni’s critical
perceptions of the fascist state; ‘delicacy with solidity, transparency against opacity,
and sumptuousness with austerity,’ and expanded on its social significance;101
Figure 27: ‘Fascist’ Furniture:

Photograph of the furniture designed by Terragni for the Infant School. The design of the third chair, the ‘Lariana,’ was taken
directly from the furniture Terragni created for the Como Casa del Fascio, reinforcing the relationship between the Casa del Fascio
and the Asilo.
100 Duggan, pp. 226-227, 238.
101 Rifkind, The Battle for Modernism, p. 194.
Page 52
Terragni designed the building’s furniture to address this dilemma by instructing their users’
behaviour… The Lariana side chair is comfortably elastic, yet its wood seat and back are detailed
in such a way as to discourage slouching or lounging, lest the sitter slip between the back and the
seat. This experiential quality literally rectifies the user’s carriage, while the Lariana’s attenuated
verticality ensures the erect posture proper to “the servants of Fascism.”102
The Casa del Fascio in its entirety sought to ‘ward off bureaucratic ossification,’103
but such was not the concern for the Asilo Sant’Elia. The conditions of the Asilo were
radically different from the Casa del Fascio, yet Terragni deemed his Lariana suitable
for both applications.
Rifkind’s semblance of the Lariana as a physical and behavioural formative device

corresponded to the fascist mission of discipline and uniformity. If Rifkind’s analysis
is accurate, the moveable furniture acquires a new redemptive role; one that negates
liberalism and refers to the active and submissive aspects of fascist culture. Given the
conscious placement of the ‘fascist’ Lariana chair in the Asilo, it seems reasonable to
speculate that the embedded political intimations spoke of Terragni’s ideal association
of the school with the regime’s ideals.
102 Rifkind, The Battle for Modernism, p. 193.

103 Ibid., p. 193.

MODERNIST OR FASCIST?
7.0 MODERNIST OR FASCIST?
Figure 28: A ‘Fascist’ Classroom:

The bright classrooms of the Asilo Sant’Elia, connected by the retraction of folding dividing walls thus
allowing the gathering of the respective ‘masses.’ Fascist and parochial iconography adorns the walls
of the classrooms.
7.1 EUROPEAN VS ITALIAN MODERNISM
Established by the previous chapters, Terragni’s design of the Asilo Sant’Elia shared
many commonalities with the European Modernist movements such as De Stijl in the
Netherlands and figures including Corbusier, Loos, Aalto and Behrens. Mirroring
many aesthetic ideals of the rationalist manifesto, European modernism also sought
to be politically resonant, observed by McLeod as a movement that ‘challenged
different existing social patterns.’104 Terragni’s writings, most notably within Gruppo
7 and Quadrante indicated a close adherence and admiration of the Modernist
values, however as remarked by Andrew Peckham, ‘identifying with Le Corbusier as a
traditionalist, they eulogised the clear logic and abstract perfection of his houses, yet
criticised an inopportune machine aesthetic and the clinical “over rigorous application
of pure rationality.”’105
Modernism in fascist Italy comprised of two architectural factions; Piancentini’s

‘simplified neoclassicism’ and Gruppo 7’s rationalism.106 At first glance rationalism
appeared indistinguishable from European modernism, however, Ghirardo argues the
‘Rationalists tried to validate current modernism on historical grounds, [… suggesting]
that they hoped to root their movement in the Italian past as much as did Piancentini and
Ojetti.’107 Thus, according to Ghirado, Terragni and the Gruppo 7 architects seemingly
reinforced nationalistic and italianità sentiment in their work through reference to Italy’s
specific architectural canon.
7.2 TRANSFORMATION OF [ITALIAN] TRADITION
The rediscovery and celebration of history became a fundamental theme of the Fascist
Party. Mussolini’s promotion of a messianic faith in Imperial Rome was articulated in his
Dottrina del Fascismo, to create a ‘stronger generation of Italians who could resurrect
104 McLeod, p. 25.

105 Andrew Peckham, 'The Dichotomies of Rationalism in 20th-Century Italian Architecture', in Architectural design, 77.5
(2007), 10-15, (p. 13). (Refers to Gruppo 7’s translated manifesto’s in 'Architecture', in Oppositions Fall 6 (1976), pp. 85-
102).
106 Andrews, p. 13.

an empire for Rome.’108 Historicism accorded with the regime’s desire for the instant
acquisition of values relating to family and tradition, but seemed to contradict with the
pursuit of a new Italy.109 Ghirardo elaborates;
The entire 20-year history of fascism was marked by vacillation between an apparently adventurous
modernism and a recalcitrant traditionalism. Fascism as a concept was advertised as something
thoroughly new, the next and better step after the liberal democratic state. On the other hand, it
claimed to sink its roots deep in Italian history, especially Roman history.110
Whilst Piancentini’s neo-classicism drew more apparently on classicist ideas (and,

in doing so successfully maneuvered the support of the regime)111, Terragni and the
rationalist architects resisted the ‘rehashing and regurgitating’ of the passé, advocating
for a new aesthetic that would give Fascism ‘its own architectural mark.’112 McLeod’s
observations, albeit of postmodernism, postulate the implications of historicism on
architecture; ‘on the one hand, it meant freedom and a chance to recoup lost values;
on the other, it suggested that the present was no better than the past, that aesthetic
and political choices were arbitrary.’113
Terragni’s laudative interpretation of the regime favoured the fascist notions of a

‘contemporary’ renewal. Replications of Rome contradicted a notional concept of
development but carried a nobility that Terragni considered embedded in the fascist
regime; apparent in his assertions of the ‘noble’ nature of the fascist ‘mission.’114
Accordingly, Gruppo 7’s 1931 declaration of ‘Mussolini wants an art that is of our
time,’ did not deny elements of historicism, but rather, as famously articulated in their
articles published in La Rassegna (1926-1927), required an evolution in the principals
of antiquity;

109 Duggan, pp. 215, 223.
111 Ellen R. Shapiro, 'Architecture II: The Foreigners', in Oppositions: a Journal for Ideas and Criticism in architecture, Fall
1976/6 (1976), 85-102.
112 Zevi, Architectural Design, p. 43.
113 McLeod, p. 34.
114 Terragni, Libeskind and Rosselli, p. 62.
Page 56
Figure 29: Transformation of Tradition:
Archival photograph of the broad unornamented concrete façade that faced the street edge with the projecting portico and glazed
entrance. The concrete sits atop a stone base; an Italian tradition.
Figure 30: Monumentality of Imperial Rome:

The South-East facing façade where classrooms open up to the external landscape. Broad unornamented concrete facades cultivate
a sense of monumentality reminiscent of ancient edifices.

There is no incompatibility between our past and our present. We do not wish to break with tradition;
it is the tradition which transforms itself, and assumes new aspects, few people may recognize it.115
Echoing the classical roman Vitruvian prerequisite firmitas (strength), in 1931 the
Gruppo 7 rationalist’s stated architecture should respond to ‘masculinity, strength
and pride in the Revolution.’116 Somewhat validating Terragni’s achievement of this, in
1994 Schumacher described the Asilo as ‘a small building of great stature; intimate,
yet grand.’117 The broad unornamented concrete façades of the school acquired a
monumentality that spoke of both the nobility of Italy’s ancient edifices and also of the
‘masculinity’ and ‘strength’ of Mussolini’s regime (Figures 29-30).
In response to a second classical concept, namely of a formulaic beauty, venustas,

Schumacher observed that Terragni’s ‘particular classicism manifests itself in the use of
proportion, in figurative motifs, parti-forms, compositional regularity, cubic stereometry,
and in the use of classic detail forms.’118 Andrews’ visual analysis elaborates on
Schumacher’s claims, arguing Terragni responded to historicism through ‘an ingenious
diagram’ of overlapping squares, diagons and golden sections (Figure 31).119 Whilst
such a composition could be critically dissected under the microscope of historicism,
the Asilo also seemingly addressed the contrasting national pursuit of progress, with
Terragni declaring in Quadrante;
It seems finally that the school is also moving towards its own architecture: the small room of the
past with coarse benches and soaked spruce floors, is starting to be a memory120
In the case of the Asilo Sant’Elia, Terragni’s response to classicism did not necessarily
indicate a concession to the state’s attempt at historical revivalism. In fact, Terragni’s
statements concerning classicism preceded those of the regime which formalised
in the early 1930’s, implying that the rationalist stance of history was perhaps but a
115 Il Gruppo 7, 'Architecttura', La Rassegna Italiana (1926), cited in Shapiro, trans. by Shapiro, p. 90.
116 Zevi, Architectural Design, p. 43.
117 Schumacher and others, Casa Del Fascio, Como, p. 43.
119 Andrews, p. 86.
120 Terragni, Libeskind and Rosselli, trans. by author, p. 114.
Page 58
Figure 31: Venustas:
Analysis of the mathematical proportions informing the floor plan of the Asilo Sant’Elia completed by Brian Delford Andrews. Terragni can be
seen to incorporate Golden-Ratio rectangles, diagons and shifting rectangles incorporating proportions deriving from antiquity and articulated
in venustas; the Vitruvian prerequisite of a formulaic beauty.

product of formal education at the Milan Politecnico.121 Concerned with a critical and
transgressive reading of contemporary society, Zevi observes that ‘Terragni leaves
behind the futurist avant-garde and launches himself into the present, not into a
speculative future.’ Could it be that whilst Terragni incorporated aspects of historicism,
it was only through the lens of conceptual and stylistic modernity that historical
nuances elucidated fascist concepts of social progress and nobility, thus sustaining a
contemporary critical political potency?
Arguably, Terragni’s transformation of Italian classicist values and subtle gestures to

culturally traditional typologies defined the Asilo Sant’Elia as a product of Italy’s specific
architectural canon. It had evolved from the ‘transformation’ of the country’s past and
appeased the historicist ideals of the fascist state. However, as Corbusier stated;
to be modern is not a fashion, it is a state. It is necessary to understand history, and he who
understands history knows how to find continuity between that which was, that which is, and that
which will be.122
The modernist statement resonated with Gruppo 7’s 1926 declaration of a transformation
of tradition and was further compelled by Corbusier’s ‘Lessons of Rome;’ a specific
reference to the classical epoch that the fascist state were reviving.123 Consequently,
given that Gruppo 7’s ideas regarding tradition could be witnessed in European
Modernism, they were rendered neither uniquely Italian or fascist.
7.3 A ‘FASCIST’ MODERNISM
In respect of Modernist values, the Asilo Sant’Elia paralleled all of Corbusier’s and
Jeanneret’s 5 Points of a New Architecture and met Argan’s definition of modernism as
promoting ‘social progress and the democratic education of the community.’124 Terragni’s
design incorporated fundamentally modernist gestures such as ‘the promenade,’ ‘the
121 Shapiro, p. 86.

122 William J.R. Curtis, Le Corbusier (London: Phaidon Press, 1994), p. 223.
123 Le Corbusier, Towards a New Architecture. ed. by Frederick Etchells (Oxford: Architectural Press, 1989), pp. 193-212.
Page 60
courtyard’ and technologically innovative materiality. Consequently, at first glance,
the values of modernism and Italian rationalism appeared indistinguishable from each
other and from that of the fascist state.
Distinguishing the Asilo Sant’Elia from the Modernist movement and connecting it more
fervently to the regime were the connections, established and vocalised by Terragni,
between buildings and ideologies of the fascist state. Accordingly, discerning the extent
of fascitization at the Asilo Sant’Elia, depends largely on an allegorical interpretation.
Statements such as Terragni’s declarations of the Asilo Sant’Elia as responding to the
‘noble social mission’ placed the intention of the school as fulfilling a directly fascist
agenda. Accompanied by declarations of a ‘social duty’ and ‘obligation of the primary
instruction of the people,’ Terragni embedded the school in the fascist regime.
However, isolated from Terragni’s statements, the classification of the school under
modernism or fascism is less apparent. Given the somewhat intangible and ‘grey’
boundaries to fascist ideology, categorising architecture as ‘fascist’ can prove
contentious. To enable a differentiation between Modernism, ‘fascism’ or architecture
built simply during the Ventennio era, it is useful to refer to Doordan’s proposed ‘iconic,
typological, economic, and ideological’ criteria for evaluating the political content of
fascist architecture.125
Based on Doordan’s analysis, typologically, Terragni’s Asilo Sant’Elia equated with

a national need and aligned with the regime’s focus on education. Economically,
the Asilo was funded by the Carità Congregazione; a charity which was governed
indirectly by the fascist state. Ideologically, the school synthesised the principals
concerning hygiene, national collectivity and instruction such that it became a critique
of social-cultural values. Quantifying iconographical content remains more subjective
and speculative given the possibly transient and uncontrollable nature of imagery.
However, at a community scale, the Asilo’s proximity and resonance with the Casa del
Fascio served as an effective symbolic gesture of the political relationship between
125 Doordan, 'The Political Content in Italian Architecture', p. 121.

the town and the school. This iconographical allegory extended to the interior, where
adorned with portraits of a stern Mussolini and the crucifix, the inside of the Asilo was
undeniably and paradigmatically fascist.
Doordan’s systematic analysis requires not a complete indication of all parameters,

but rather the evidence of broad patterns and threads that respond to the pursuits
of the regime. In this manner, read within the locale of the Casa del Fascio, the Asilo
Sant’Elia becomes embedded in a complex nexus of fascist ideals, critically and
formally articulating indeterminate notions presented by the regime.
Page 62
CONCLUSION
In 1980 Bruno Zevi declared ‘Fascism to Terragni is analogous with Catholicism to

Michelangelo and Borromini. A fascism full of virtue, of imagination and honesty,
capable of surpassing bureaucratic inefficiency.’126 Zevi’s statement summarised
the success of Terragni; a figure able to isolate and articulate a fascism within a
fascism, idiosyncratic to the Rationalists alone. Yet, despite a conclusive acceptance
of Terragni’s commitment to the fascist state, this alone did not categorise the Asilo
Sant’Elia as politically relevant and so, it must be noted, that the arguments presented
in the preceding chapters are of a speculative nature. Assumptions drawn about the
relationship between Terragni’s Asilo Sant’Elia and the fascist regime will neither be
faultless conclusions or unhesitatingly accepted by any reader.
Stated by McLeod, ‘the intersections between architecture and politics can be seen as
twofold: the first involves architecture’s role in the economy; the second, its role as a
cultural object.’127 However, this research has revealed the Asilo Sant’Elia went beyond
a product of culture and economy. The Asilo was not only defined by these factors,
as McLeod posits, but itself served as a transgressive catalyst in the application of
broader political ideals to social and cultural realms. A product and a fabricator of
its economy; the Asilo payed culturally through production of a loyal and spiritually
committed generation.
Terragni’s notion of the school as ‘a home for a large family’ represented a mentality
and conformity that placed the Asilo within the socio-cultural ideas of the epoch.128
The regime’s ruling fixation with health and hygiene concerns were in many ways
indistinguishable from those that governed Terragni, realised by the generous sanitary
provision afforded to the infant school. The Asilo physically articulated the notionally
pioneering concepts of health and light, and thus marketed the school as a product
of the revolutionary spirit of fascism. Terragni’s concessions to the occupants of the
school, namely in the Asilo’s proportions and environmental qualities, did not detract

127 McLeod, p. 25.

from the political potency of the Asilo, but rather introduced a new compassionate
currency to Terragni’s intentions.
At the front end of fascist education, the Asilo Sant’Elia was largely exempt from the
pervasive and ‘aggressive’ changes that comprised Giovanni Gentile’s education
reforms.129 Serving as a vehicle of political ideology, the Asilo did however observe
elements of the new idealised fascist form of instruction; particularly in its adoption
of fascist iconography and its vision of active learning which harmonized with the
philosophies of the scuole complementari. Engaging with immaterial notions such as
physical competence, Terragni could be seen to critically respond to the era of fascism
whilst escaping the confines of verbal political entrenchment.
Finally, Terragni’s most explicit association of the Asilo Sant’Elia with Mussolini’s regime
arguably came in the form of his declaration that the school derived its ‘spiritual content
from the noble social mission.’130 A direct reference to the intangible pursuits of the
fascist regime, the statement intimated at Terragni’s contemplation of architecture as a
transgressive and redemptive device capable of materialising institutional boundaries
and instilling virtues congenial to the regime; identified in the research presented here
as devotion to the nation and readiness to serve Il Duce. The reimagined arengario
pertained ideologically to the fascist spectacle culture, and according to Rifkind’s
analysis, Terragni’s furniture was similarly imbued with political nuance. Taking the
above into account, the Asilo mirrored the regimented and homogenized expression
of the ‘masses’ that characterised Mussolini’s ventennio era.
Arguably, the interpretations of Zevi and Andrews, depicting the school as liberated of
political agenda underestimated the social and cultural impetus afforded to Terragni
from the welfare policies of the fascist state. Observed by Doordan, ‘consistency is
not a characteristic of either Italian politics or Italian architecture.’131 The confinements
of ‘fascist’ architecture were not absolute, rather they remained broad patterns and
threads that wove the social ideas of the state with the identity of a troubled nation. In
129 Wolff, p.75.

131 Doordan, p.130.
Page 64
many ways, the Asilo was unfamiliar, with its radical synthesis of control and freedom,
avant-garde purity and its unorthodox approach to tradition and modernity. Yet these
ideas were all, in some form, embedded in fascist instruction.
Witnessed in his address of hygiene, light, composition and materiality, Terragni’s

Asilo paralleled the philosophies of European pedagogues and Modernism, fusing
European and Italianità under the aegis of fascism. Turning only so far as to acquire
concepts that would resonate with the rhetoric of the fascist state, Terragni synthesised
the developments of western neighbours to create a school pioneering in every aspect,
or as he declared, ‘moving towards it’s own architecture.’132
We don’t pretend to be creating a new style, but through a constant application of rationality, by
letting a building meet the needs of the problem as perfectly as possible, we are certain that a style
will arise by the process of selection.133
When Terragni and his contemporaries declared in 1927 that they were not creating a
new style, but rather letting one emerge from the needs of a problem, they presupposed
the means by which Terragni arrived at his solution for the Asilo Sant’Elia. Synthesising
the transgressive ‘problems’ of the epoch into politically nuanced parameters, Terragni
augmented the role of the Asilo as a pioneer of the social change that the fascist state
elicited. ‘Fascism’ itself remains an intangible concept, and so Asilo cannot be labelled
as such, rather its form and philosophies have materialised from addressing fascist
ideals.
Adopting the principals and methodology of the Modernist ‘style,’ but through
associations and justifications with fascist rhetoric and ideology, Terragni imbued his
rationalist aesthetic with a political intention that concluded in what can be considered
a built interpretation of fascist pedagogy.
Word Count: 10996

Does not include preliminary pages, appendices or figure captions
132 Terragni, Libeskind and Rosselli, trans. by author, p. 114.

133 Il Gruppo 7, ‘Architecttura’, La Rassegna Italiana (1926-1927), cited in Zevi, Architectural Design, p. 41.

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Page 70
LIST OF APPENDICES
APPENDIX A:
Translated copy of Terragni’s report for the Sant’Elia Nursery School.
SOURCE: Terragni, Attilio Alberto and Daniel Libsekind and Paolo Rosselli, The
Terragni Atlas: Built Architectures (Milan: Skira, 2004), pp. 62-63.
APPENDIX B:
Plate published in Quadrante Journal No. 35/36, 1936, advertising the Asilo Sant’Elia.
A translation of the full text follows. Trans. by author
Terragni Atlas: Built Architectures (Milan: Skira, 2004), p. 114.

APPENDIX A:

Translated copy of Terragni’s report for the Sant’Elia Nursery School.
Terragni Atlas: Built Architectures (Milan: Skira, 2004), pp. 62-63.
Page 72
APPENDIX B:
Plate published in Quadrante Journal No. 35/36, 1936, advertising the Asilo Sant’Elia.
A translation of the full text follows. Trans. by author.
Terragni Atlas: Built Architectures (Milan: Skira, 2004), p. 114.
Page 74
Original writing of the Quadrante plate:
Scuole e bimbi
Tutti sonno che il Regime fascista ha fatto per le scuole cose meravigliose, e basterebbe considerare
la attività dell'Opera Balilla per trovare la dimostrazione di quanto affermiamo. Pare finalmente
che la scuola vada anch’essa verso una sua propria architettura: la stanzetta di una volta con banchi
rozzi e pavimenti di abete fradicio, incomincia a essere un ricordo. Ma bisogna fare attenzione ai
fabbricati nei piccoli comuni. L'economia, questa eterna nemica delle iniziative sane, è assunta
troppe volte come pretesto per architetture meschine e insufficienti. E cosi accade magari che il
pregiudizio della "facciata in stile” si mangi i quattrini occorrenti per una costruzione semplice
e luminosa. Quattro muri bastano per creare un edificio scolastico. La vera economia consiste
nell'aprire in questi quattro muri altrettante finestre grandiose traverso le quali irrompano la luce
e l’aria, le sole medicine che occorrono ai bambini.
Translation of the Quadrante plate (Trans. by author):
Schools and children

We all sleep knowing that the fascist regime has done wonderful things for schools, and it would
be enough to consider the activity of the Opera Balilla as proof of what we say. It finally seems that
the school is also moving towards its own architecture: the small room of the past with rough c
and soaked spruce floors, is starting to be a memory. But you have to pay attention to buildings in
small municipalities. The economy, this eternal enemy of healthy initiatives, is too often taken as a
pretext for petty and insufficient architecture. And so, it happens that the prejudice of the "styled
façade" consumes the money needed for a simple and luminous construction. Four walls are enough
to create a school building. The real economy consists in opening in these four walls with many
grandiose windows through which break the light and the air, the only medicines that children need.

RATIONALISM, FASCISM AND EDUCATION
Madeleine Wellham

5 Madeleine WELLHAM Dissertation Final Manuscript

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RATIONALISM,

A critique of the manifestation of Fascist ideology and rhetoric in

Madeleine Wellham, Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University

A critique of the manifestation of Fascist ideology and rhetoric in

Madeleine Wellham, Welsh School of Architecture, Cardiff University

Supervised by Wesley Albrecht

1.0 THE FASCIST STATE………………………………….…………………..…...17

2.0 A FASCIST ARCHITECTURE?…………………...…………..........………….20

3.0 THE ASILO SANT’ELIA………………………………………..………...……..23

4.0 ‘A HOME FOR A LARGE FAMILY’…………………....………………...……..30

5.0 ‘THE PRIMARY INSTRUCTION OF THE PEOPLE’ ………..….....………..41

6.0 NOBLE SOCIAL MISSION’………………………………………………...…..49

7.0 MODERNIST OR FASCIST?………...……………………………..……..…..54

Fascism, Rationalism and Education . 2019-2020 . Page 7

FIG. 1 – Cover Image: Infant of the Asilo Sant’Elia

FIG. 2– ‘The cult of the Duce’

FIG. 3– ‘The fascist Balilla’

FIG. 5– ‘Aerial view’

FIG. 6 – ‘Floor plan’

FIG. 7– ‘Front façade’

FIG. 8– ‘Rationalist form’

FIG. 9– ‘A band of light’

FIG. 10– ‘Cantilevered portico’

FIG. 11– ‘Glazed corridor’

FIG. 12 – ‘Scrupulous hygiene’

FIG. 13 – ‘Nurses’ room’

FIG. 14 – ‘Casa del Fascio’

FIG. 16 – ‘Asilo Sant’Elia’

Fascism, Rationalism and Education . 2019-2020 . Page 9

FIG. 19 – ‘Scaled ‘per i bambini’

FIG. 20– ‘Fascist iconography’

FIG. 21 – ‘Outdoor play’

FIG. 22 – ‘Peer learning’

FIG. 24 – ‘Mussolini and the Youth’

FIG. 27 – ‘‘Fascist’ furniture’

FIG. 28 – ‘A ‘Fascist Classroom

FIG. 29 – ‘Transformation of tradition’

FIG. 30– ‘Monumentality of Imperial Rome’

Fascism, Rationalism and Education . 2019-2020 . Page 11

When Gruppo 7, a group of young, polemical rationalist Architects, presented a

Conceived midway through Mussolini’s ventennio dictatorship, the Asilo Sant’Elia

7 Ibid., pp. 62-63.

Fascism, Rationalism and Education . 2019-2020 . Page 13

Introduced by contextualising paragraphs, the subsequent four chapters comprise the

Fascism, Rationalism and Education . 2019-2020 . Page 15

Figure 2: The Cult of the Duce:

Fascism, Rationalism and Education . 2019-2020 . Page 17

1.1 THE REGIME AND THE YOUTH

Fascism, Rationalism and Education . 2019-2020 . Page 19

2.1 PLURALITY OF STYLES

2.2 ARCHITECTURE AND POLITICS

Architectural professor Mary McLeod’s observations in her article Architecture and

McLeod’s notions are paralleled by Rifkind who counterparts the socio-cultural

Fascism, Rationalism and Education . 2019-2020 . Page 21

3.1 GIUSEPPE TERRAGNI

A self-declared and vocal fascist proponent, Terragni’s commitment to the state

A steadfast fascist and unwavering rationalist, Terragni vocalised his intent to

Fascism, Rationalism and Education . 2019-2020 . Page 23

33 Ciucci, Trans. by author, p. 454.

Figure 6: Floor Plan:

Fascism, Rationalism and Education . 2019-2020 . Page 25

by means of the congregazioni di carità (congregations of charity). Organized by prefects, these