The University of Trieste during the period of the Allied Military Government from Fascism to Democracy.

This chapter considers the reuse of the iconic main building of the University of Trieste. Designed by Raffaello Fagnoni and Umberto Nordio, the building followed Mussolini’s explicit instructions to design a symbolic rampart of Italianness against the “Slavic menace.” Construction on the project began in 1939. After World War II, the university’s colossal dimensions became a thorny problem for the Allied Military Government, which administered Trieste from 1945 to 1954, until the city and region’s annexation to Italy. In terms of the functions and spaces appropriate for a university, the Anglo-American point of view highlighted aspects that were specific to postwar Italy and Trieste’s political situation. The city and the surrounding territories were at the center of the international political scene – in short, a preview of the Cold War. The university’s architectural features recalling fascist ideology constituted a critical factor, and the institution has reformulated the assumptions that determined its birth. The crucial role of historical research contributed to enhancing the university’s artistic and cultural heritage and moreover to exerting a critical analysis aimed at a frank comparison with the past....Read more