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Circolo degli Esteri Palazzina Storica

Historic Building

The Club’s beautiful historic building houses its representative halls on the second floor, whom are named after the artists whose works have significantly furnished the spaces. In which are held exhibitions, concerts, cultural events, institutional meetings, and social gatherings. The ”Alessandro Vattani” library is located on the first floor and is regularly used for business meetings, while the café, an informal snack and hangout area, is situated on the ground floor.

Florestano Di Fausta, a technical consultant for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, begins designing the first building of the Club of Foreign Affairs, now known as the “Historical Building” in 1934. Di Fausto already had a distinguished career as an architect of diverse public and representative buildings in Europe and other continents. The building was built in “contemporary style,” which itself was inspired by the urban naturalistic setting in which it was positioned and represented an example of architecture in accordance with the dominant stylistic language of the 1930s.

The work coincided with the completion of colonial architecture projects such as the sea restaurant Mehari, designed in 1934 and built the following year, the Uaddan-Tripoli hotel-casino-theatre complex, also planned in 1934, the Spalato Consulate headquarters project, or the Jerusalem Consulate, both in 1935. On a formal level, the historical building design was an experiment in combining metropolitan architecture of the time and colonial architecture within the functionalist-symbolic paradigm with a modern and European perspective, as if to communicate a promising openness to modernity with the client’s consent through the new building. Between 1953 and 1964, the historical building was transformed and gradually expanded by the architect Michele Busiri Vici, who intervened on both the exterior and interior, always in the wake of an attentive fusion of arts, architecture, and nature. A continuous building restoration and interior adjustment plan was implemented over the years, which now includes a number of representative halls named after the authors of the artworks kept in the club’s valuable contemporary art collection.

Excerpt from Maria Concetta Migliaccio’s “La Palazzina storica del circolo” in “Il Circolo del Ministero degli Affari Esteri“, Gangemi, Rome, 2008.

Satellite area building

The coeval satellite area building includes a modern fitness hall with Technogym equipment, a wellness centre with sauna, Turkish bath, and massage room, a polyfunctional space, and a Harmony Hall dedicated to yoga and psychophysical relaxation.

Circolo degli Esteri Palazzina Area Satellite
Citcolo degli Esteri Gazebo Area Storica

Restaurant

The club’s restaurant is in the historical area and encompasses a hall dedicated to Master Chia, a large veranda, and a porch.
Thanks to the functional cafeteria, there is an informal dining area in the satellite area where children’s parties and social events are also held.

Cards Pavilion

The card pavilion, which is itself surrounded by green foliage and lit by natural light, is primarily used for card games and bridge courses. Moreover, there is a lounge where you can read both digital and paper newspapers. Finally, in a second hall, there is a section with a magnificent pool table and all of its accessories.

Circolo degli Esteri Padiglione delle Carte
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