October 26, 2015: Luxury brand Fendi has inaugurated and moved its headquarters to the historical Palazzo Della Civilta’ Italiana (PDCI).
Built at the end of the 1930s, this building is decorated with 28 statues on its four facades, each representing the arts and crafts of the Italian population, such as: craftsmanship, work, philosophy, commerce, industry, archeology, history, the inventor genius, architecture, law, sculpture, the genius of theatre, press, medicine, geography, the genius of poetry, painting. On top of each façade, appears the famous phrase: “un popolo di poeti di artisti di eroi / di santi di pensatori di scienziati / di navigator di transmigratori” (“a population of poets, of artists, of heroes / of saints, of thinkers, of scientists / of navigators and transmigrators).
On the occasion of the inauguration, Fendi is hosting an exhibition, which is open to public till March 7, 2016, located on the first floor of PDCI. The exhibition, promoted by Fendi and realized in collaboration with Roma Capitale, Assessorato alla Cultura e al Turismo – Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali, represents a first in the public-private cooperation.
A permanent light installation, conceived by artist and draftman Mario Nanni, will also be unveiled to enhance the architecture of the Palazzo in a new and innovative way. A white light will light up the columns of the arcades with increasing shades and intensities, creating an incredible effect, symbolic of the Palazzo’s rebirth.
A rich array of paintings, of which some are on loan from New York’s MoMA are a part of the exhibition. Designs, sketches and studies by the great protagonists of Italian architects of the 1990s are combined with design objects and historical images. Along with great artists, such as Gino Severini, Mario Sironi, Enrico Prampolini, Francesco Messina, the exhibition will host original creations from the 1950s and 60s of Pericle Fazzini and Giuseppe Capogrossi i and other contemporary art works.
A fundamental part of the exhibition will be dedicated to the masters of photography who dedicated part of their work to PDCI and the EUR district – Karl Lagerfeld, Gabriele Basilico, Fabrizio Ferri, Franco Fontana, Andrea Jemolo, Mimmo Jodice, Giulio Pediconi and Hans Christian Schink. The exhibition will also celebrate, with the projection of film extracts, great film directors – Roberto Rossellini, Federico Fellini, Vittorio De Sica, Michelangelo Antonioni, Elio Petri, Bernardo Bertolucci.
