National Balilla Organisation Headquarters
subsequently Italian Fascist Youth (GIL) Headquarters
now the Italian State Archive
Viale della Giovine Italia 6
The headquarters of the National Balilla Organisation (subsequently Italian Fascist Youth or GIL), ASCFi, Firenze, 1937, 9-10, p. 278.
The present construction, erected between 1978 and 1986 to a design by Italo Gamberini, Franco Bonaiuti, Loris Giuseppe Macci and Rosario Vernuccio, replaced the Italian Fascist Youth Organization's local headquarters which the local authorities decided to demolish in 1975 (it was finally knocked down in 1977).
The foundation stone of the now demolished building, designed by architects Aurelio Cetica and Fiorenzo De Reggi, was laid on the municipally-owned Pratoni della Zecca fields on 12 May 1934. Fascist Party Secretary Achille Starace opened it as the local headquarters of the Italian Fascist Youth (which absorbed the National Balilla Organisation in 1937) on 10 April 1938. The building housed Florence's first indoor swimming pool, named after the great swimmer Oreste Muzzi, a gym large enough to replace an outdoor sports field, a courtyard for the young Balilla to exercise in, and a large auditorium. After the war the auditorium became the Cristallo Cinema and variety theatre.
"His Excellency Ricci deals the first pickaxe blow for the new National Balilla Organisation headquarters", ASCFi, Firenze, 1934, 4-5, p. 149. The title perfectly reflects the precepts enunciated by Achille Starace in his Vademecum dello stile fascista [Guide to Fascist Style] (1939): "The custom of announcing the laying of the foundation stone reeks of yesteryear. Fascism prefers to announce the start of work or the first blow of the pickaxe, a dynamic and concrete announcement."
ASCFi, Firenze, 1937, 9-10, p. 277.
Plan of the ground floor, designed by Aurelio Cetica and Fiorenzo De Reggi, ASCFi, Firenze, 1937, 9-10, p. 278.
"Main entrance of the National Balilla Organisation headquarters", ASCFi, Firenze, 1937, 9-10, p. 278.
The headquarters of the National Balilla Organisation (subsequently Italian Fascist Youth or GIL), ASCFi, Firenze, 1937, 9-10, p. 278.
Cartoon for the fresco painted "in the GIL memorial chapel" by Sineo Gemignani, a student at the Royal Art Institute, ASCFi, Firenze, 1940, 1-4, p. 205.
