Padiglione della Dalmazia –Exhibition Pavilion of Dalmatia at the Milan Fair in 1928

Abstract

The Pavilion of Dalmatia, renamed the Pavilion of Zadar in 1930, was built for the Milan Fair in 1928 as an interesting architectural project of the interwar period. Designed as a three-part exhibition building of historicist conception, with a front façade combining elements of Dalmatian Gothic and early Renaissance with classical models, the pavilion expressed the ideological and symbolic aspirations of the Italian authorities to affirm their cultural presence on the Croatian Adriatic coast. From the 1930s, the pavilion was used by the Radio Marelli company, which modified the façade’s appearance in the spirit of the times and its own brand identity. The pavilion remained in use until 1942, when it was destroyed in a bombing. After that, it fell into oblivion until a small newspaper article sparked renewed interest in this structure. Based on preserved photographs, archival sources, and press records, it has been possible to reconstruct the visual identity and propaganda function of the pavilion, thus placing it in the broader context of Dalmatia’s and Zadar’s exhibition activities within the Kingdom of Italy between the two world wars.