Between the two world wars, there was a high level of building activity in Italy. Architects built new edifices, but they also repaired, restored and rebuilt existing ones. Fascist society both formed a new political landscape and shaped the traditional historical landscapes through architecture and urban planning.
The book Townscapes in Transition will bring together recent research results in architectural history and theory. It understands architecture and urban planning as cultural practices in a specific political context. Accordingly, it gains insight into heritage production in interwar urban planning and architecture in Italy.
The essays of this volume will discuss a wide range of architectural designs from visibly strict modernist solutions to variations of regionalism, mediterraneanism or national style from all over Italy. Furthermore, they observe selective uses of historic stylistic elements in restorations and even in conservation measures. And moreover, architects applied traditional concepts in design to the urban and even regional scale. In terms of design, consequently, entire regions like the Romagna can be characterized as inner colonies of Rome.
In short, the upcoming book (publication scheduled for spring 2019) will assemble recent studies in architectural history and theory exploring the historical paradigms guiding architecture and urban design in Italy between the world wars.
Luigi Monzo 