Around two hundred participants visited the institutional headquarters of the Italian Air Force for free on Sunday 22 May.
Following the great success of previous editions, this year too the Palazzo dell'Aeronautica It opened its doors to the public on the occasion of Open House Roma 2022, initiative that from 10 years grants free access to hundreds of Roman buildings for the curious and enthusiasts.
By participating in this event, the Air Force has once again wanted to contribute to initiatives focused on the education, knowledge, and protection of the country's historical, artistic, and architectural heritage. An event that allowed the Armed Force to showcase itself with the firm will to make itself known to the citizens History and traditions representing the foundation and identity of the Air Force today. A “young” Armed Force that is preparing to celebrate its one hundred years of its constitution in 2023.
Open House Rome It was born from the idea of a group of architects and communicators focused on socio-cultural innovation. Experts and professionals in the cultural heritage sector, the group includes PhDs, architects, cultural operators, artists, and digital communicators, who identify with a project founded on the concept of the common good as a driving force for a new economy that places the environment, culture, and community at its centre. It is an annual event that in a single weekend celebrate the design and architecture in the capital.
The monumental Air Force Palace was commissioned by the then Minister of the Royal Air Force (1926-1933) Italo Balbo, who, for the design, turned to a 28-year-old architect, Roberto Marino; the works were completed in just two years and the palace is the first in Italy to be built entirely of reinforced concrete.
The building is designed with bold, confident lines, intended at the time to highlight the characteristics of a modern Rome. The interior was conceived with new criteria: large halls (instead of the old cellular system) where the officials' desks are arranged; partitions largely made of transparent glass to separate the halls from the corridors connecting them; vast dimensions and imposing proportions (the building covers an area of approximately 8000 square metres).
Simplicity and elegance are also found in the decorative elements, which are unobtrusive yet significant, such as the handles that stylise a wing profile or the “Command Staff” motif, formerly a distinctive mark of pilot officers, which is reinterpreted as an elegant and understated embellishment for the metal railings of the Grand Staircase, the glass doors of the Halls of Heroes and Clouds, and even incorporated into the imposing covers of the radiators installed in the Halls of Honour.
The “Sala Italia”, “Sala Europa”, and “Sala delle Cartine” are skilfully decorated with murals of a geographical, astronomical, and historical nature. The last of these three rooms, in particular, commemorates the two Atlantic Cruises led by Balbo himself in 1930 and 1933, to Brazil and the United States respectively. The three rooms served as the antechambers for access to Italo Balbo's small study – on whose wall was placed the inscription “Beyond destiny”, almost as if to accentuate the importance of visiting the minister, building anticipation for the Heads of State invited to the Palace.
The functionality of the Palace was also highlighted by the continuous cycle elevators, “paternoster elevators” (consisting of two adjacent and parallel columns of cabins – suitable for two people – superimposed and in slow continuous motion, one going up, the other down; on each floor served, two openings – one for each direction of travel – allow users to get on or off the cabin “on the fly”) and by the “pneumatic post” system, which allowed for immediate communication between the various rooms in an innovative way, at a time when emails were a very distant reality in the future.
