Head & Shoulders was wrong, you do get a second chance to make a first impression. EUR, Rome’s “new” city is a travertine- bedecked neighborhood of rationalist architecture and rectilinear streets designed by Fascist-era architects for the 1942 World Exposition. The idea was E42, as it was to be called, would show off the best of the 20th century empire through beautifully designed buildings and other features for cultural and sporting activiteis. EUR is now just another one of Rome’ s satellite neighborhoods, with shops, offices, families, prostitutes and parking issues… and it is all home to the hear of Fendi.
Inaugurated this past October, the Fendi HQ takes residence in the EUR’s most monumental building, the Colosseo Quadratic, a looming and modernist version of everyone’s favorite arena- the central hub of admin and atelier. And thanks to Fendi and Uncle Karl, EUR gets a second chance for a first impression with “Una Nuova Roma” (A New Rome), a beautifully curated temporary show all about EUR.
For the first time in its 72-year-history, the Colosseo Quadrato opens its doors to the public with Fendi’s full force exhibition that shows off EUR from its inception to its 21st century incarnation through photography, video, news real, paintings, sketches, film and interior design. Una Nuova Roma is free (I’ve seen it two times so far!) and is up through March 7 in Fendi HQ’s ground floor gallery, a luminous, marble-coated space whose vibe is a bit meta– imagine learning all about the evolution of EUR as you stand in the hallowed ground of its most epic building.
My tip? Head to EUR first thing and walk the boulevard to Fendi. Enjoy the Palazzo and then grab a nibble at Palombini, one of those “broke the mold” bars-pasticcerie-tavola caldia serviced by white-jacket waiters and flavored with a little Fendi fab.
