“The ambiguity of seduction and fascination that we feel with regard to fascist architecture is in itself something very important from a critical point of view. The problem with an apathetic or non-critical outlook with which certain subjects may consider fascist architecture goes well beyond fascist architecture itself; it’s a pedagogical issue that does not concern the artist,” says Diego Marcon of the Casa del Fascio in Como, also known as Palazzo Terragni, where in 2017 he shot his film Monelle.

The Casa del Fascio in Como, realized by architect Giuseppe Terragni between 1932 and 1936, is one of the masterpieces of Italian Rationalism. The initial project envisaged a building with a traditional layout, completely different from the one built, so much so that the final realization of the project took several years and was only completed in 1936, the year in which it was inaugurated as the local office of the National Fascist Party.

The square-plan building is a perfect prism divided into four storeys, raised from the square in front resulting from the overturning of the façade itself. Since 1957, it has housed the headquarters of the local Financial Police corps.