The Air Force has renewed its adhesion to the initiative promoted by the head of the Prevention of Corruption and Transparency, a day that intends to promote the culture of legality and transparency in the performance of all institutional activities, as provided for by art. 10 of Legislative Decree 33/2010.
On Thursday, November 7, the doors of Palazzo Aeronautica, in Rome, the institutional headquarters of the Air Force, opened to the public. For the Armed Forces, this special day also represents an important opportunity to make citizens aware of the role and activities that the Armed Forces carries out in the service of the country and, at the same time, give citizens the opportunity to admire the architectural beauties of the Palazzo dell'Aeronautica, a monumental complex from the early 30s and among the most interesting in the architectural panorama of those years.
Also within the framework of this initiative, the Air Force has organised some further extraordinary openings of the Palazzo AM on Saturdays in November (9-16-23-30), from 09:00 to 17:00.
The public will be able to access for free at Palazzo Aeronautica from the entrance on Viale Pretoriano, 18 with guided tours that will depart every 30 minutes starting at 9:00 am (with a break from 12.30:14.00 pm to XNUMX:XNUMX pm).
To access Palazzo Aeronautica on the occasion of Transparency Day or on the occasion of the Extraordinary Openings, it is necessary to register on the Aeronautica Militare website to book the tour for the visit.
Aeronautical Palace
The Palazzo dell'Aeronautica, the institutional headquarters of the Armed Forces, was inaugurated on October 28, 1931, just over two years after the start of construction. A record time for the construction of a monumental building commissioned by Italo Balbo, Minister of the Air Force from 1929 to 1933, who had entrusted the design to the young architect Roberto Marino, only 28 years old.
In Balbo's idea, the Air Force Palace was to be "a work of imperial dimension, in harmony with the essence and the future of the Armed Forces, totally free from foreign suggestions" characterised by broad and confident lines to underline, in the intent of the time, the characteristics of a modern Rome.
Faithful to its definition of the seat of the "Ministry that regulates the most modern means of transport and at the same time the most audacious and important weapon of war in the future", the Palazzo dell'Aeronautica was also a model of innovation as the first imposing Italian construction entirely built in reinforced concrete using the modern concrete technique.
The criteria for the division of the internal areas were also new, and, following the precise instructions of Italo Balbo, they favoured large work spaces without dividing walls, but delimited by wooden partitions and glass windows, following the open space model of American offices, the extreme functionality and effectiveness of which the Minister of the Air Force had had the opportunity to personally verify.
The decorative elements of the architectural structure ensured simplicity and elegance to the rooms and are still visible, among other things, in the handles of the portals represented by a stylised wing profile and by the motif of the “Bastone del Comando”, then the distinctive sign of the pilot officers. A sign that is also repeated, as an embellishment, on the metal railings of the Scalone d'Onore, on the glass doors of the Sala degli Eroi and the Sala delle Nuvole and, even, in the imposing radiator covers in the Halls of Honour.
The Sala Italia, the Sala Europa and the Sala delle Cartine are expertly decorated with mural paintings of a geographical, astronomical and historical nature. The last of the three rooms mentioned, in particular, commemorates the two Atlantic Cruises led by Balbo himself in 1930 and 1933.
Guardian of architectural and pictorial works of Italian rationalism, the Palazzo dell'Aeronautica periodically opens its doors to visitors who thus have the opportunity to admire the Piazzale Italo Balbo, the Grand Staircase, the Noble Rooms, the Heroes Fountain and the Paternoster , the historic lift with open cabins.
The entrance of Viale Pretoriano, called the “Three Arches” for the central colonnade that adorns the main facade, represents the monument to the Fallen of the Air Force, all remembered by name with the Lapidary that honors their everlasting memory. A place of intense suggestion and the heart of a Palace that is an integral part, not only, of the historical, artistic and architectural heritage of the Country, but of the very essence of the Air Force, of its history, of its traditions and of its noblest values.
