L'architettura della sede del gruppo rionale fascista Evaristo Cappellozza a Padova. Trasformazioni nel tempo

The headquarters of the local fascist group Evaristo Cappellozza were built in 1938, designed by Quirino De Giorgio. It was the most valuable National Fascist Party building to be completed in Padua. The complex, made up of three buildings, still stands in Via Cristoforo Moro. This paper focuses on a recent maintenance intervention, which generated a disconcerting result characterized by free invented sculptural elements and finishes related to the original function. De Giorgio had designed the new building dedicated to administration and recreation on the right facing the headquarters, the transformation of the nearby school gym, in the centre, and the modification of a smaller building that housed showers and toilets. The facades on the street were clad in travertine, and the first block was engraved with the main part of the Discorso dell’impero, the "Speech of the Empire". Following the fall of fascism and, subsequently, the end of the war, all sculptural elements were removed and the slabs engraved with the words pronounced by Mussolini replaced with blank ones. However, as a result of the recent intervention mentioned above, new stone eagles have appeared, different from the originals, and the stone slabs corresponding to those on which the Discorso dell’impero was once engraved have been abraded, although replaced in the post-war period, deliberately suggesting a cancellation that never occurred.