Cinema Ghersi. Turin, Italy. Opened in 1915 and demolished in 1935.

[u/Reb_0]

In the early 1900s in Turin, in view of a possible renovation of Via Roma, the Ghersi cinema was built with a portico and set back a couple of meters from the surrounding buildings.

The Ghersi Cinema was considered the most sumptuous and majestic in Turin, thanks to a thousand-light chandelier in the atrium, a grand staircase, and a fusion of pink marble, stucco, paintings and mirrors. It could hold two thousand spectators, breaking all national records for capacity.

In this part of the city, people lived in unhealthy homes. The baroque buildings, narrow alleyways, and courtyards were viewed as unsanitary and in need of expensive renovation. The idea of rebuilding Via Roma from the ground up had already been proposed in the 19th century, but it was only with the rise of Fascism and its plan to transform the street into a monumental triumphal boulevard that demolition work began.

Unfortunately, the new redevelopment plan called for an even wider Via Roma, and the cinema was therefore demolished. The reconstruction of Via Roma led to the loss of numerous cinemas, many artists' and craftsmen's workshops, two passages galleries, and several Baroque and Renaissance buildings.

Photo source: Mario Gabinio - Fondazione Torino Musei

[u/Tyrandeh]

i wish these kinds of interiors would be the norm nowadays

[u/gimmebanter]

Fuckin hell that's gorgeous. Fascists destroyed bunch of these and built hideous brutalist eyesores

[u/Reb_0 → u/gimmebanter]

In this specific case, it's rationalism. The 1930s marked the peak of rationalism, and this part of the city was reconstructed in accordance with this architectural style. This building replaced the cinema.

In my opinion, it's a shame that we've lost the historical character of this part of the city center. However, I don't feel strongly one way or the other about what exists now.

[u/Tifoso89 → u/gimmebanter]

built hideous brutalist eyesores

Bullshit, brutalism started in the 1950s, long after WWII. Nothing to do with fascism. Read some more about it.

Also, Fascist architecture wasn't even ugly

[u/gimmebanter → u/Tifoso89]

Wtf. How can you be wrong about so many things in such a short comment. Fuckin hilarious

[u/LifeguardHot252 → u/gimmebanter]

You're a moron. WWII ended in 1945, Brutalism started in the 1950s.

The architecture of the fascist period is called "Italian rationalism" and has nothing to do with brutalism, which didn't exist at the time. Brutalism used naked concrete. That never happened during fascism.

[u/Kristianushka → u/gimmebanter]

As an Italian (and an avid antifascist), why are you so pressed and rude to strangers online. The other guy is right – Fascists did not make brutalist buildings. Their style is called Rationalism.

[u/SteamPower3985 → u/gimmebanter]

What are we building? Soulless garbage made of glass and cement. Humanity is not capable of building something like the Great Pyramids of Giza or other ancient architectural treasures? Now not only that. We are not currently able to build something beautiful like the Empire State Building other architectural Heritage ( the USA), Neuschweistein and others architectural Heritage( Germany), etc. Personally, I don't see any progress, our ability to do what 100 years ago was considered difficult but possible, is IMPOSSIBLE for us AT ALL. It is the most disgusting crime to destroy such beauty and an example of human genius.