A stillborn initiative. The theater “in ruins” dedicated to Gabriele d’Annunzio from its construction to its conservation

With the collapse of fascism and the dramatic conclusion of World War II, which saw Pescara heavily bombed, the recollection of Gabriele d’Annunzio experienced an inevitable decline, at least at a national level. Throughout Italy, the plans for the monument to be erected in memory of the poet were understandably shelved, but not in his hometown, where a competition of ideas for the construction of an open-air theater, modeling the ancient ones, was launched. The Pescara competition constituted an interesting break with contemporary architectural research, even if among them, the winning project by the architects Mariano Pallottini, Antonio Cataldi Madonna, and Filippo Marinucci is the most predictable: perhaps by incorporating the ideas present in the outdoor scenes set by the same poet. In fact, it proposed a quarter-circle auditorium carved into the ground, with a balcony raised on coupled frames where “tragedies will be played and in which the absolute modernity of inspiration will join a purity of form not unworthy of the times of Athens.” This contribution reconstructs, on the basis of unpublished documents, the lengthy story that led to the construction of the monument to d’Annunzio in the 1950s, which has been the victim of a condition of marginalization and degradation, the result of a lack of recognition by citizens and institutions.