EUR: the Square Colosseum and the lake

Stops along the way

Things to notice.

1. 01

   1

   Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana

   The Square Colosseum: a white cube of fifty-four arches per face, built for a 1942 world's fair that the war cancelled. Now Fendi's headquarters. Walk underneath it and look up through an arch — the proportions are the whole argument it's making.

   01

   Palazzo della Civiltà Italiana

   The Square Colosseum: a white cube of fifty-four arches per face, built for a 1942 world's fair that the war cancelled. Now Fendi's headquarters. Walk underneath it and look up through an arch — the proportions are the whole argument it's making.

   ◉Street View
2. 02

   2

   Viale della Civiltà del Lavoro

   The wide ceremonial avenue between the cube and the rest of EUR, lined with the statues and obelisks the regime favoured. It's built to make you feel small; notice that, then keep walking — it's the clearest stretch of the whole plan.

   02

   Viale della Civiltà del Lavoro

   The wide ceremonial avenue between the cube and the rest of EUR, lined with the statues and obelisks the regime favoured. It's built to make you feel small; notice that, then keep walking — it's the clearest stretch of the whole plan.

   ◉Street View
3. 03

   3

   Palazzo dei Congressi

   Adalberto Libera's congress hall, a great white box with a single vast vaulted hall inside — rationalist outside, almost Roman-bath in there. You can't always go in, but the portico and the staircase are public; sit on the steps and take the scale.

   03

   Palazzo dei Congressi

   Adalberto Libera's congress hall, a great white box with a single vast vaulted hall inside — rationalist outside, almost Roman-bath in there. You can't always go in, but the portico and the staircase are public; sit on the steps and take the scale.

   ◉Street View
4. 04

   4

   Basilica dei Santi Pietro e Paolo

   The domed church on the hill, deliberately echoing St Peter's from a distance. Climb the steps for the view back down the axis toward the cube — EUR was laid out as sightlines, and this is the best of them.

   04

   Basilica dei Santi Pietro e Paolo

   The domed church on the hill, deliberately echoing St Peter's from a distance. Climb the steps for the view back down the axis toward the cube — EUR was laid out as sightlines, and this is the best of them.

   ◉Street View
5. 05

   5

   Laghetto dell'EUR

   The artificial lake dug for the fair, ringed by cherry trees the city of Tokyo gave Rome. This is where EUR stops being intimidating and becomes a place people actually live — joggers, prams, a rowing club. Walk the far shore for the skyline reflected.

   05

   Laghetto dell'EUR

   The artificial lake dug for the fair, ringed by cherry trees the city of Tokyo gave Rome. This is where EUR stops being intimidating and becomes a place people actually live — joggers, prams, a rowing club. Walk the far shore for the skyline reflected.

   ◉Street View
6. 06

   6

   Nuvola / EUR Palasport

   Fuksas's 'Cloud', a glass box with a steel-and-fabric blob suspended inside it — the twenty-first century's answer to all that 1930s certainty. A good place to end the argument the walk has been having. Metro B home from EUR Palasport beside it.

   06

   Nuvola / EUR Palasport

   Fuksas's 'Cloud', a glass box with a steel-and-fabric blob suspended inside it — the twenty-first century's answer to all that 1930s certainty. A good place to end the argument the walk has been having. Metro B home from EUR Palasport beside it.

   ◉Street View