«Si redime la terra, si fondano le città». Il palazzo delle Opere Pubbliche per il lungomare di Bari: tra estetica del potere ed esigenze identitarie

During the Fascist twenty-year period, Bari was designated as one of the main cities in the Mediterranean. The transmission of this symbolic significance was entrusted to the configuration of its seafront, the impressive combination of modern and classical architectures, and the suggestion of a city emerging from the sea like a captivating urban theatre. In this context, the history of the Apulian capital, its connection with the sea, and the rebirth of wartime industrial production was associated – in the dialogue between architecture and politics – with the principles recalling the values that the fascist regime tried to spread in the city. However, this process was unfolded gradually and intermittently, accelerated only when the progressive importance of this part of the city was recognized by local administrators as the place where the positive effects of fascism on the territory were to be represented. In this frame, a crucial role was played by the projects drafted by the architect Carlo Vannoni. Indeed, for each of the two seafront sections, almost unexpectedly, the building activity was concentrated, and the architectural interventions were originated by the construction of a building designed by the young Roman architect, aiming at determining the aesthetics of power and at receiving the identity needs required by politics process involving the city