The role of colour in Modern Movement Architecture. The case of Terragni’s Casa del Fascio in Como

The belief that 20th-Century architecture can be recognized by the use it made of the colour white has been widely rebutted over the last few years. One of the most interesting results of the research studies on the buildings of the Modern Movement is the rediscovery of colours. Many factors contributed to the idea that Modern Architecture was mainly characterized by white, but black and white photography is for sure the most influential one. All those black & white pictures were instrumental in paving the way for a precise iconography associated to Modern Architecture, thus leading to a serious misconception. It is as if Modern Architecture lived a parallel life in vintage photographs. Even if it is perceived in the collective imagination as that perfect artistic shot suspended in time and space, Modern Architecture did develop and change over time, in particular with respect to details and finishes, such as colours. This article aims at highlighting those tiny changes that – even though insignificant when taken singularly – substantially contribute to changing the way a building is perceived when considered as a whole. Giuseppe Terragni’s Casa del Fascio is so well suited to the purpose. One of the masterpieces of the Italian Modern Movement, inaugurated in 1936, it has been used as Guardia di Finanza police headquarter since 1957. Colour variations represent a key element in the architectural language of Casa del Fascio. The plasters, the wood and iron windows and shutters, the doors, the grout joints of the concrete-framed glass blocks, the stairway railings changed in colour many times, thus altering the appearance of the building. Walls, for example, have many different coats of paint: originally the lower part had a special colour obtained by mixing blue and light green, while the upper part had a lighter colour. When looking at black & white vintage photos we can spot the different colour shades, as if these were supposed to enhance some surfaces in contrast to others. Today this effect has been eliminated through the white paint coat applied to all the surfaces. The stairway railing met a similar fate: originally embellished by a two-tone effect it is now all black. Together with the white walls it seems to inaccurately translate the vintage pictures. Although it is of utmost importance to understand which colours characterized the building at the time of its construction, no less important is to comprehend how its surfaces were transformed over time and why a specific colour was chosen and eventually altered. Terragni’s Casa del Fascio can now be returned to the inexorable passing of time, as it no more embodies the idea of an incorruptible monument