Current name: Cultural Club
Original name: Lace House or Embroidery House, then Friends’ Club
City: Tresigallo (FE) (ITA)
Address: Viale Giuseppe Verdi no. 18
Year of construction: 1935
Designer: Carlo Frighi based on an idea by Edmondo Rossoni
Clients: SERTIA
Architectural style: Modernist – Littorio with references to Rationalist solutions – Eclecticism
Interior visits: upon request
Notes: The Casa del Merletto is included in a dedicated itinerary in this guide, subject to Superintendence restrictions – historical and artistic significance
On Via XVIII Ottobre (the date of the March on Rome), facing what is now Viale Giuseppe Verdi in Tresigallo, numerous public buildings were constructed during the Twenty Years of Fascism. All are styled after the characteristic architectural choices of the period. The elevations, almost always suggested by Agriculture Minister Edmondo Rossoni, were mostly designed by Carlo Frighi, the trusted engineer of the powerful Tresigallo hierarch. Among them are the Elementary School, the Royal Carabinieri Barracks, the “Scuola del Merletto,” the famous portico leading to Piazza Italia, the Hotel Italia, the Mother and Child House, the Domus Tua Hotel, the Domus Tua Ballroom, and, finally, the Sports Field with its monumental entrance. In the modernization and industrialization of the old Ferrara suburb, the powerful minister pushed for accelerated completion of public buildings and urban development projects. Rossoni knew that the work of refounding the city, far from the approval of Mussolini and the state, would not last long. And that the huge sums he had raised would be lost. And so it was.
Begun in 1934 and completed in 1935, the Lace House (Casa del Merletto) was one of the first buildings constructed in Tresigallo. It was intended to house a sewing school for single mothers and the unemployed, a place designed to offer educational opportunities preparatory to entering the workforce. It was owned by SERTIA, the company founded by Rossoni’s uncle to manage the financial flows, construction, and expropriation of the enormous “Tresigallo construction site.” Interestingly, just across the road, the similar and complementary “Casa della Madre e del Bambino” (Mother and Child House) of the ONMI (National Institute of Italian Migration). The façade of the “Casa del Merletto” appears to be linked to many traditional construction features, and the attempt to address the need for modernity was partially addressed with the use of two heavy cylindrical towers. The right tower features a vertical iron ribbon window, reminiscent of Rationalism. The absence of frames in the first-floor openings and the lightness of the small, reinforced concrete canopies over the entrances reflect the same concept. The gabled roof, however, is made of traditional materials. The shape of the roofs of the two towers, seen from above, resembles those of a small castle, effectively evoking the building’s Eclecticism. The left tower houses the small balcony/arengario, while the right tower contains the staircase leading to the single upper floor. After the war, the building was purchased by the Amici Cultural Club, which made it its prestigious headquarters. It is currently empty.
The load-bearing structure is made of brick and the floors are made of reinforced concrete. The pitched roof is covered in terracotta. The floors feature a recurring Palladian style.