1885/87 Giulio De Angelis
(1850/1906) and Sante Bucciarelli (1848/94)
1917 raised
with an extra floor again by Giulio De Angelis
1920
cantilever roof by Pio Piacentini (1846/1928)
The INTERIORS
were painted by Annibale Brugnoli (1843/1915)
with paintings of which unfortunately no trace remains
It was the
first department store in Rome, formerly known as STABILIMENTO BOCCONI
(Bocconi Establishment) or ALLE CITTÀ D’ITALIA (To the Cities of Italy)
The first
elevators and escalators ever in Rome were installed here
It was
called LA RINASCENTE (The Reborning One) by the poet Gabriele D'Annunzio in
1917 for its reconstruction following a fire. Similar fate had just happened
shortly before to its counterpart in Milan
“He showed
independent and unconventional temperament and mastery of the most advanced
construction techniques, linked to the industrial production of his time. With
the Bocconi building Giulio De Angelis experimented in the typology of the
department store, a risk in many ways, including that of opposing rooted habits
and social behaviors, and he won this very difficult comparison test, giving
Rome the first building of great size fully intended for commercial use”
(Giuseppe Miano - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)
In 2006 the
building was bought for about € 125 million by the Spanish group ZARA and La
Rinascente in 2010 moved across the street, in the Palazzo dell'Istituto di Beni Stabili
(Galleria Alberto Sordi)
The
preparation of the new store lasted about one year and the architecture has
been restored to the initial design of Giulio De Angelis, a project advanced
for its time in the use of steel structures in construction and with huge and
bright windows
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