Crater in Macerata, History and Brutalism Architecture

Macerata, a city in Italy, has gone through a long history of fighting against Nazi fascism in World War II. The struggle of the past then could be remembered by city residents through the Monument to The Resistance. This truly unusual work is located in a green space on the roadside, with the bronze inscription “Alla Resistenza nel Maceratese,” which means “To The Resistance in The Macerata Area,” on the wall at the front.

Monument to The Resistance in Macerata (cr: Roberto Conte)

Gruppo Marche, consisting of Paolo Castelli, Luigi Cristini, and Romano Pellei, designed this monument, which was completed in 1969, the 25th anniversary of the city's liberation. At the same time, in the same year, a major event was happening: the Apollo 11 lunar landing mission. These two historical events—the fight against fascism and the lunar mission—became the main concepts for designing the monument.

Hemispherical basin shape (cr: Roberto Conte)

The Monument to The Resistance, Macerata, has a hemispherical basin made of concrete, a typical material of the brutalism style that emerged in the post-war era. The large crater structure has smaller craters in the bowl, each depicting the war field’s crater and the lunar crater. The design implies the meaning of a changing era of humanity, from bomb craters to lunar craters, from the era of fighting for peace to the era of developing science, from past history to future projections.

Smaller craters which depict lunar craters (cr: Roberto Conte)

Reinforced concrete meets natural elements (cr: Roberto Conte)

The monument aims to unite reinforced concrete architecture with the surrounding green area. The union slowly occurred over many years until nature finally embraced the architecture through changes in color due to climate, moss in the structure, and soil and vegetation that had adapted to the built architecture. These things leave the monument with a historical brutalism look.