Fascist Architecture - Style

Style

Fascist styled architecture is a branch of modernist architecture which became popular in the early 20th century. The fascist style was also greatly influenced by the rationalist movement in Italy in the 1920s. Rationalist architecture, with the help of Italian government support, celebrated the new fascist age of culture and government in Italy.

In Nazi Germany, the extremely large and spacious Fascist architecture was one way envisioned by Hitler to unify Germany by designing structures for what he described as "mass experiences" in which thousands of citizens could gather and take part in the patriotism of community events and listen to speeches made by Adolf Hitler and other Nazi party leaders.

The fascist style of architecture was very similar to the ancient Roman style. Fascist buildings were generally very large and symmetric with sharp non-rounded edges. The buildings purposefully conveyed a sense of awe and intimidation through their size, and were made of limestone and other durable stones in order to last the entirety of the fascist era. The buildings were also very plain with little or no decoration and lacked any complexity in design. These generalities of fascist architecture contributed to the simple aesthetics the edifices display. All these aspects helped the fascist dictatorships exhibit absolute and total rule of the population. Hitler and Mussolini used fascist architecture as another source of propaganda to display to the world the strength, pride, and power their regimes had.