Jonathan Meades: Benbuilding - Mussolini, Monuments, Moderni

Having investigated the architecture of Hitler and Stalin’s regimes in previous films, Jonathan Meades now turns his attention to another notorious 20th-century European dictator: Mussolini. When it comes to the buildings of the Fascist era, Meades discovers a dictator who couldn’t dictate, as Mussolini was caught between the contending forces of modernism and a revivalism that harked back to Ancient Rome. The result was a variety of styles that still influence architecture today. The programme sees Meades visit Rome, Milan, Genoa, the new town of Sabaudia and the vast military memorials of Redipuglia and Monte Grappa. Along the way, he ponders on the nature of Fascism, the influence of The Futurists and Mussolini’s love of a fancy uniform.