g alvanized by Marconi’s ocean-bridging radio signals, Fascist Italy set out to assert its primacy in the field of telecommunications within the civilized world.The monumental post offices which shaped the urban panorama of Italian cities in the early 1930’s recount that history today. O ne of these post offices, surprising for the peculiarity of its form, is in Piazza Bologna, built by Mario Ridolfi and Mario Fagiolo, two young architects, in 1933-35. Its curved façade is an homage to baroque Rome— a borrominesque memory. Yet beyond this historic parentage, a futuristic line can be discerned: the building is literally wrapped in what can be considered the ulti- mate symbol of Marconi’s ground-breaking inventions: the telegraph band. Th e skin of the post office mimics that particu - lar kind of paper ribbon with a good degree of fidelity.The curved travertine slabs of the cladding are painstakingly dressed to create a continuous surface; the punctured windows relinquish any characterization in order to become mere rectangular holes — similar to the perforations in the telegraph band. A curious effect is thus established.The ‘semi- otic’ band of the telegraph, a thin ribbon-like surface, is multiplied in size to become building surface, and to represent ultimately itself.The interplay of scale, language, and representation give place to an architecture parlante, balanced between the representative intents of the regime, virtuosic craftsmanship, and baroque reminiscence.
The post office and the telegraph band: an architecture parlante
Federico De Matteis
Federico De Matteis has studied architecture in Italy, Germany, and at the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently concluding his doc- toral studies at the University of Rome, La Sapienza.
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