br Urban context The building of Rome s university

Urban context The building of Rome׳s university campus, between 1930 and 1935, represented a complicated and problematic process that norepinephrine bitartrate was deeply intertwined with Italian history. Many cultural transformations took place at that time, particularly in the architectural profession, higher teaching, and urban layout of the main Italian cities, especially Rome. Mussolini tasked Marcello Piacentini with the overall design and management of the operation and entrusted him with technical, political, administrative, and economical aspects. Aligned with the political and cultural program of the dictator, who intended to revive the splendor of ancient Rome through the fascist ideology, Piacentini proposed a regular and symmetric urban layout. The design was based on a Latin-cross plan, with a main central alley cut by a perpendicular axis. The plan perfectly fit the rectangular area selected for the settlement, which was adjacent to the university policlinic and of public property [Figure 3]. Piacentini kept for himself the commitment of the urban layout and of the Rectorate building. He tasked 10 young architects with the design of the other buildings displayed along the main axes. Piacentini also entrusted to Gio Ponti the project of the School of Mathematics, which was to be placed in a very notable position at the head of the transversal axis. The reason for Piacentini׳s choice resulted in various historical interpretations because Ponti was different from his colleagues. He represented a rather independent fringe of the architectural culture of those times. However, Piacentini and Ponti shared a professional relation, a personal friendship, and mutual esteem. Perhaps Ponti was also appreciated for being the editor of “Domus” and for being well related to the Milanese industrial class (Barucci, 2002). Ponti received a formal commitment on July 1932, but Piacentini pretended all the drawings were ready by September of the same year. The construction began in February 1934, but Ponti continued working even beyond the inauguration of the campus in October 1935 and remained busy with the definition of architectural and constructive details. This situation may explain why none of the original drawings conserved in archives or published in the reviews of the time correspond in detail to the building [Figure 4]. Although many architectural features of the campus, such as the selected materials and construction techniques, the modern architectural elements, and the essential character of the outer surfaces were enforced by Piacentini, Ponti retained a certain freedom of expression as his building resulted in a complicated structure when compared with the abstract forms of other ones (Melis, 1936). From the very first drawings, Ponti׳s project consisted of three juxtaposed volumes that differed in shape and size and corresponded to three different main functions. The research activity area, library, and faculty offices were placed in the main representative prismatic volume facing the public space. Drawing class halls dedicated to the teaching of descriptive geometry were placed in the curvilinear wings embracing the semi-circular open-air courtyard adjacent to the main building. Class halls dedicated to the teaching of mathematics were situated in the “tower” with three levels of large inclined halls [Figure 5]. In the context of this building, the library presented the space with the highest architectural quality. Displayed on a triple height, it consisted of a large reading hall with perimeter walls encased by bookshelves accessible by galleries and lit by a large vertical opening at the center of the main façade translucent to a modulated and colored light. A huge skylight placed on top of the roof consisted in a long prismatic volume made of prefabricated reinforced concrete vaults and glass–cement blocks with operable windows along the sides, which let natural soft light pour from above. The spatial and light effects were of great beauty [Figure 6].