Historic building · 20th century · Arborea, Sardinia

House of the Beam – Balilla House of Arborea

The Balilla House of Arborea is a historic building in Arborea, a town in the Province of Oristano on the island of Sardinia, Italy. Arborea itself is a planned settlement founded in the early twentieth century during the land-reclamation of the surrounding plain, which gives the town a distinctive coherent architectural character. The building belongs to this period of new construction and stands as part of the civic and institutional fabric created for the young community.

At a glance

Type: Historic civic building
Period: Early 20th century
Style: Architecture of a planned reclamation town
Location: Arborea, Province of Oristano, Sardinia, Italy

Overview

Arborea is a town and comune in the Province of Oristano, in the autonomous region of Sardinia, with around 3,700 inhabitants. It borders the municipalities of Marrubiu, Santa Giusta and Terralba. The Balilla House is one of the buildings that form part of the town’s twentieth-century institutional heritage.

History

Arborea was established as a planned town during the reclamation of the coastal plain in the early twentieth century, when new settlements were laid out with civic, religious and community buildings. Structures of this period were intended to serve the social and institutional life of the new population. The Balilla House belongs to this founding phase of the town’s development.

What you see

The building reflects the architectural language of Arborea’s planned origins, integrated into the regular layout of the town. Together with the church, town hall and other public buildings, it contributes to a unified urban ensemble unusual for Sardinia. Its form and placement express the institutional purpose for which the town was designed.

Cultural significance

As part of a rare example of an entirely planned town in Sardinia, the building documents a distinctive episode of twentieth-century settlement and reclamation. It illustrates how architecture was used to give identity and structure to a new community. The ensemble of Arborea remains a notable case study in modern Italian urban planning.

Practical information

Access may depend on the building’s current use and local arrangements. Check the official website or local tourist information for visiting details and opening hours.

Getting there

Arborea lies on the western coastal plain of Sardinia, in the Province of Oristano. It is most easily reached by car from Oristano, the nearest main town, which is connected to the rest of the island by road and rail.

Sources & resources

Find it on the map

Google Maps See the location on a full map → Street View Walk around the place virtually → OpenStreetMap Free community cartography →

On the west coast of Sardinia, in the Campidano di Oristano region overlooking the Gulf of Oristano, stands Arbor&egrave;a, a small agricultural center of about 4,000 inhabitants.



The name derives from the Latin term &ldquo;arboreta&rdquo; which means bush, woods. A municipality built on an area that up to less than a century ago was totally dominated by vegetation and marshes.



Arbor&egrave;a, in Sardinia, was the center of one of the very first reclamation works. The works in the Terralba-Sassu area began in 1926.



Just off the main square of Corso Italia, the architecture manifests itself in a completely different stylistic language.

The fascist headquarters is a set of two buildings consisting of the House of the Beam (Casa del Fascio -&nbsp;Torre Littoria ) with the Littoria Tower&nbsp;and the fascist youth center Balilla House (Casa del Balilla) designed by Giovanni Battista Ceas show Italian rationalism.



The Casa del Balilla, later Casa della G.I.L., has a central block, which housed the gym, changing rooms and offices on the two floors, and is connected to two reinforced concrete wings that frame a large outdoor swimming pool in the back.

In the fa&ccedil;ade the lower part, with the large entrance and the long ribbon windows, is clad in exposed brick, while at the top it presents a smooth and light plaster masonry with six circular windows.



The building was altered at the end of the sixties of the twentieth century with heavy interventions that compromised the unity of the design, especially in the interiors, eliminating in particular a circular basin, delimited by a series of staggered brick pillars inside the atrium. which led to the swimming pool. A restoration has the task of restoring the characteristics of the building.




On the side of the Casa del Balilla stands the Casa del Fascio, laid on two floors and completed on the left by the tall lictorian tower with a square plan, with a round arch. The rectangular building has a slightly raised ground floor which falls back, allowing the opening of a portico with exposed brick pillars.



Here, too, the use of exposed brick and light-colored plaster differentiates the parts from a chromatic point of view, highlighting themselves as a recurring architectural motif in the designer.

The Casa del Fascio features a soaring bell tower, a prominent feature of many New Fascist Cities.

The bare geometric shapes and linearity of this group of buildings contrast dramatically with the architecture that surrounds the nearby main square of Arborea.

https://culturalheritageonline.com/places/house-of-the-beam-balilla-house-of-arborea-l2276/

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House of the beam – Balilla House of Arborèa