ARCHITECTURE DURING WARTIME: THE MOSTRA D'OLTREMARE AND ESPOSIZIONE UNIVERSALE DI ROMA

摘要

This paper examines the architecture and planning of the Mostra d'Oltremare in Naples-a national display of colonial expansion that opened in May 1940-and the Esposizione Universale di Roma-an "Olympics of Civilization" that was proposed for 1942. These two major exhibitions will be studied in relation to Italy's violent and racially motivated Imperial politics. In the first case, it will closely examine the "Villaggi indigeni" (Indigenous village) of Italian East Africa, a scientific re-enactment of native constructions that became a space of violence and political confinement. In the second, it will study the "Villaggio operaio" (Workers' village), which, just like the larger exhibition grounds, was transformed into a site of military conflict during the war period.