Skip to main content
  • Book
  • Open Access
  • © 2019

Architecture and the Novel under the Italian Fascist Regime

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Demonstrates how architecture and the novel worked together as part of a system of the arts which was integral to the Italian dictatorship and its legitimation
  • Offers the first truly interdisciplinary methodological model grounded in actual intersection to identify common principles underlying the production and theorization of different artistic forms in their relationship to the Italian fascist regime
  • Provides critical insights applicable to a variety of cultural forms produced under different forms of totalitarian states

Buy it now

Buying options

Softcover Book USD 29.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 31.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access

Table of contents (8 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xviii
  2. National Novel and New Architecture

    • Francesca Billiani, Laura Pennacchietti
    Pages 1-14Open Access
  3. The Regime and the Creation of an ‘Arte di Stato’

    • Francesca Billiani, Laura Pennacchietti
    Pages 15-30Open Access
  4. Constructing the Novel

    • Francesca Billiani, Laura Pennacchietti
    Pages 31-60Open Access
  5. Fascism and Architecture

    • Francesca Billiani, Laura Pennacchietti
    Pages 61-95Open Access
  6. 900 and Quadrante: Theorizing an Interdisciplinary Aesthetic Model

    • Francesca Billiani, Laura Pennacchietti
    Pages 97-123Open Access
  7. State Art, the Novel, and Architecture: Intersections

    • Francesca Billiani, Laura Pennacchietti
    Pages 125-147Open Access
  8. Novels and Buildings

    • Francesca Billiani, Laura Pennacchietti
    Pages 149-200Open Access
  9. Conclusion

    • Francesca Billiani, Laura Pennacchietti
    Pages 201-205Open Access
  10. Back Matter

    Pages 207-229

About this book

Architecture and the Novel under the Italian Fascist Regime discusses the relationship between the novel and architecture during the Fascist period in Italy (1922-1943). By looking at two profoundly diverse aesthetic phenomena within the context of the creation of a Fascist State art, Billiani and Pennacchietti argue that an effort of construction, or reconstruction, was the main driving force behind both projects: the advocated “revolution” of the novel form (realism) and that of architecture (rationalism). The book is divided into seven chapters, which in turn analyze the interconnections between the novel and architecture in theory and in practice. The first six chapters cover debates on State art, on the novel and on architecture, as well as their historical development and their unfolding in key journals of the period. The last chapter offers a detailed analysis of some important novels and buildings, which have in practice realized some of the key principles articulated in the theoretical disputes.



Authors and Affiliations

  • School of Arts, Languages and Cultures, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK

    Francesca Billiani, Laura Pennacchietti

About the authors

Francesca Billiani is Senior Lecturer in Italian Studies and Director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in the Arts and Languages at the University of Manchester, UK.

Laura Pennacchietti is Research Associate in Italian Studies at the University of Manchester, UK.

Bibliographic Information

Buy it now

Buying options

Softcover Book USD 29.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 31.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access