On Thursday 21 November 2024, from 4.30 p.m. to 5.15 p.m., at the new SBA Information Point (left wing-ground floor) in the Central Building A of the Campus in Piazzale Europa 1, the book EUT Edizioni Università di Trieste ‘L'Edificio Centrale dell'Università di Trieste. History and Architecture 1938-1950" edited by Valentina Fernetti, will be presented to the delegations of the National Association of University Circles - ANCIU.

Valentina Fernetti, Diana Barillari and Sonia Bertorelle will illustrate this publication dedicated to the project for the new headquarters of the University of Trieste in 1938, which marked the fulfilment of a dream that the city had long pursued since the time of the Habsburg government and that had begun to take shape after its annexation to the Kingdom of Italy.

The establishment of the Royal University of Economic and Commercial Studies by Royal Decree dated 8 August 1924 was the first official step, followed by the expansion of the faculties and the consequent need for a university building complex, which coincided with the elevation to the rank of Studium generale in 1938.

The volume is the result of research carried out for engineer Valentina Fernetti's degree thesis and subsequently enriched by archive documentation, in particular the fonds of Raffaello Fagnoni and Enrico Bianchini held at the State Archives in Florence. Equally valuable were the historical archives of the University of Trieste, the Trieste State Archives, the IUAV project archives, as well as numerous private funds. In this way, it was possible to reconstruct the events of the building site, characterised by the adoption of structural solutions consistent with the limitations imposed by the sanctions, the use of valuable finishes for both exterior and interior cladding materials, the decorative apparatus - bas-reliefs, sculptures, mosaics, tapestries - and the furnishings - for the Aula magna, the hall for the Academic Senate, lecture, examination and graduation rooms - with tables, chairs, armchairs and lamps. The increase in the bibliography between the first edition and the re-edition is a sign of growing interest both nationally and internationally.

The open access version of the volume is available on the University of Trieste's Institutional Archive OpenstarTs