An example of rationalism mixed with some baroque tricks, a ‘world apart’ that could call upon eng. Pier Luigi Nervi to decorate the Ballroom-ceiling with concrete embellishments. The Ballroom was the very core of this world, a heart with a scent of vermouth and soft percussions. A world crowded by ministerial employees, producers, starlets and Vatican clerical underworld. You’d not be surprised to picture a couple of nuns walking in the afternoon silence, maybe due to their drinking therapy ritual or to Vatican reminiscence (e.g. Sala Nervi) or some Fellini’s echoes.

Legend has it that Fellini found inspiration for his masterpiece 8 e ½ in here and doesn’t matter if it’s true or not:  the atmosphere is just the same, drinking water and inhaling nostalgia, the same melancholy breathed by the photographer with his faded “Kodak authorized” corner shop or by the colorless red chairs in the Park or by the huge and empty café counter with its lonely empty cups.

So middle-aged people have become third-age people, with no more need for phone booth tokens.

Davide Maffei (1982), graduate in Environmental Engeenering, lives and works in Modena. In 2007 he co-founded Gilson Productions, a crew specialized in Shorts, Adv’s & Docs. In 2013 matching his passion for architecture and documentaries, he directed his first full lenghts documentary film “Villaggio Eni. A pleasant sojourn into the future” shown in several film festivals, including Milano Design Film Festival in 2014.