Classicismi contemporanei tra kitsch e monumentalità (con Federico Marcomini), in “Studi e ricerche di storia dell’architettura”, 19, 2026, pp. 133-149 (https://www.aistarch.org/studi-e-ricerche-di-storia-dellarchitettura-numero-19-2026/)

This essay analyses the persistence and transformation of the classical architectural language between the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries, demonstrating how classicism continues to serve as an instrument of cultural identity and political legitimisation. Through a selection of case studies, the text reconstructs the use of idioms inspired by Greco-Roman antiquity in major public and monumental works, spanning Euro- American New Classical Architecture and a now globalised dimension across diverse contexts. Particular attention is paid to modern triumphal arches and monumentalisation projects in the capitals of emerging nations, highlighting the recourse to the classical repertoire as a symbol of prestige and state legitimisation. The essay underscores the tension between an avowedly ‘official’ classicism – an expression of official culture and politics – and its ‘vernacular’ or ‘kitsch’ adaptations. Through comparative analysis, it argues that contemporary classicism is not a mere return to a formal language, but a global phenomenon arising from complex dynamics between historical continuity and rupture, multinational entrepreneurship, and sophisticated communication strategies.