Architecture and Urbanism for Italy's Fascist Empire

摘要

Urban design was a key tool of Italian colonial policy during the occupation of Ethiopia between 1936 and 1941. Italian urbanism throughout the fascist era illustrates the disquieting compatibility between progressive planning practices and authoritarian politics. Cities built in Italian-occupied East Africa further demonstrate the extent to which modern urban design could participate in the coercive project of constructing imperial identities, among both Italian settlers and African colonial subjects. Gondar displays the themes of identity formation and ideological representation that animated urbanism in Italy's African empire (Figure 1). Italian architects had long recognized that the modern practice of architecture was inseparable from the rational design of cities, and that urban planning was integral to solving the problem of housing the working class.