Italian Architecture: 20th century

For earlier Italian architecture, see neoclassical architecture: Italy. Modern architecture in Italy started early with the Futurists. Sant' Elia produced prophetic designs for skyscrapers and giant aerodromes before World War I. Under Mussolini's brief rule between the two world wars, although many excellent new towns were laid out in the Campagna, and although the historical monuments of Rome were judiciously restored and isolated from the slums which had grown over them, some grandiose schemes in the city such as Foro Mussolini and the Exhibition south of Rome were unimaginative and pretentious. Individual architects, for example Giuseppi Terragni (Casa del Fascio, Como, 1932) and engineers, for example Pier Luigi Nervi, made significant contributions. Since World War II important buildings have been the new Central Railway Station, Rome (1950); the Torre Velasca (1957), the Pirelli Building (1958), the museums, the Underground and La Rinascente Department Stores by Franco Albini (all in Milan); and numerous blocks of flats in both Rome and Milan. See also Italian architecture.