A World's Fair in Italy: Turin 1911

Resource: Turin | Turin: The Nation’s Birthplace and a World’s Fair’s Home. (Essay)

Title:	Turin: The Nation’s Birthplace and a World’s Fair’s Home. / Turin
Author:	Della Coletta, Cristina Dean, Division of Arts & Humanities, University of California, San Diego; General Director of "Turin 1911: The World's Fair in Italy" web project.
Descriptive note:	The article introduces the city of Turin as the nation's birthplace, in the sense of the city of the Royal Family Savoy who wanted and worked for the unification of the country. In addition, it refers to an article written by Tommaso Villa, President of the Executive Committee of the Fair, who "presents the creation of the Unitary state under the constitutional monarchy of King Victor Emmanuel as resulting from the unanimous and collective resolve of the Italian people and the beneficial intervention of God’s will".
Subjects:	Nation, City Villa, Tommaso Tommaso Villa received a degree in jurisprudence from the University of Turin in 1853. Throughout his life, he combined the legal profession with a successful career in politics, starting with his election to the Chamber of Deputies in 1865. He served as a member of the Legislative Assembly and was Minister of the Interior in Benedetto Cairoli’s government (1879). He also served as Minister of Justice (1879-81) and Vice President of the Chamber of Deputies (1886-95). From 1895 to 1897, he was President of the Montecitorio Assembly, and President of the Chamber of Deputies from 1900 to 1902. He became a Senator of the Kingdom of Italy in 1909. He organized several expositions in Turin, and, because of his extensive experience, was asked to serve as President of the exposition of Turin 1911. Pavilion of the City of Turin The Pavilion of the city of Turin, a building that replaced the "Padiglione del Risorgimento" of earlier fairs, provides a significant example of the sense of Nationalism of the entire event. The pavilion’s function was to celebrate Turin’s leadership in the process of Italian unification with the display of Risorgimento artifacts, documents, and memorabilia gathered from all corners of the peninsula. The building was situated at the very beginning of the Fair itinerary, and was designed by architects Pietro Fenoglio, Stefano Molli and Giacomo Salvadori di Wieshenoff. As many other pavilions, it recalled the structure of a Baroque church, with a pronao (colonnade entrance) and a great dome 47.5 meters in height. The facade displayed a series of "Victories" by sculptor Sassi and statues by Giacomo Buzzi-Reschini. According to the CTI guide, "The exhibit deserved a close examination, as it is evidence of the progress that the old capital of Piedmont achieved in half a century of thoughtfully collected and silently industrious existence." Torino The city of Turin is a major city - as well as a business and cultural center - located in Northwest Italy in the region called "Piemonte" (literally, "at the feet of the mountain"). Turin used to be (and it still is) a major European political center and home to the House of Savoy, Italy's Royal family. It was Italy's first capital city in 1861 until 1864, when the Rome took its role.