Marcello Piacentini, Genesis of a Form: The Drawing of the University City of Rome by “La Sapienza”

In the case of study we will analyze some drawings referring to Marcello Piacentini for the University City, trying to bring out often not visible useful indications that are embodied in the drawing itself, and to make some “correspondences” appear between and with other drawings, trying to bring out that thread conductor who can make us better understand the intentions, vocations and legacies, ultimately giving “meaning” to the work. The idea is to try to find the generative spark that arch. Marcello Piacentini had for the university city. Around the beginning of the 1930s thanks to a series of favorable circumstances, in a particular historical moment, Rome was invested for the construction of the so-called “University City”. At the head of this incredible building operation, the architect Marcello Piacentini was placed by Benito Mussolini, who took only three years to complete this grandiose project. There remains an important amount of drawings from the University City which testify to the becoming of this exceptional occasion for the city of Rome, a real reorganization and building development for the university.