Description
The Palazzo Comunale of La Spezia is the town hall overlooking Piazza Europa, the same square as the Cathedral of Christ the King. It is a stern rationalist building from 1933, built as the Casa dei Fasci Lunensi and later turned into the seat of the City Council.
It was designed by the architect Franco Oliva: a massive volume, lightened by a tall portico on pairs of pillars. On the façade, four large arched windows span two floors; higher up runs a continuous band of glass.
At the corner rises the square tower, with a small polygonal arengario at its base, the balcony from which to address the crowd. Its parapet was to be clad in Carrara marble sculptures, which were never made.
Inside, three tall glazed portals lead into a spacious lobby with a marble staircase. Together with the Government Offices building, the town hall gives the square its "metaphysical" look, to which the cathedral was later added.
It was designed by the architect Franco Oliva: a massive volume, lightened by a tall portico on pairs of pillars. On the façade, four large arched windows span two floors; higher up runs a continuous band of glass.
At the corner rises the square tower, with a small polygonal arengario at its base, the balcony from which to address the crowd. Its parapet was to be clad in Carrara marble sculptures, which were never made.
Inside, three tall glazed portals lead into a spacious lobby with a marble staircase. Together with the Government Offices building, the town hall gives the square its "metaphysical" look, to which the cathedral was later added.