2
The Aeronautical College , a pearl of rationalism
The architectural context of the building in which they are located undoubtedly contributes to making the Forlì mosaics unique . The mosaics can be found in the courtyard of a large , monumental complex designed by one of the great exponents of rationalist architecture in Italy , Cesare Valle . The building was designed in the mid-1930s , built in 1937 and inaugurated in 1941 and was dedicated to the memory of Bruno Mussolini , son of the Duce and an air force officer who died in a plane crash in Pisa in August the same year . The Aeronautical College is situated at the end of the avenue ( then Viale Mussolini , now Viale della Libertà ) leading up from the new Forlì railway station which at the time represented the main access point to the city . The station and the avenue were also the beginning of the route taken by the political pilgrimages of the 1930s to the dictator ’ s birthplace , in Predappio . This was a route created and managed
by the organizations of the Fascist regime to bring hundreds of thousands of people every year , often for free or at very low cost , to discover the places of Benito Mussolini ’ s childhood .
To fully appreciate the value of the mosaics , then , we need to take into account their architectural and urban context and the different and overlapping levels of communication involved . The building itself was a monumental complex created to inspire awe on the part of those who looked at it from the outside . Inside , the art adorning the walls ( in addition to the mosaics of flight there are also mosaics and drawings of terrestrial globes and the constellations ) was intended to impress the students of the Aeronautical College as well as guests . Added to this aesthetic value , the building had a pedagogical function , that of pervading the minds of the students who studied in these spaces every day , inspiring the young people who were preparing to become future air soldiers and assigning them a precise identity : heroes and warriors who were contemptuous of danger .
68
Observing Memories Issue 8