Page 259 - Beyond Decommissioning

240 Beyond Decommissioning

also concerned that the proliferation of new buildings nearby was impairing fire-
fighting capacities.
The Fungo, a water tower, came up as the solution. A designers’ team produced a
tower of reinforced concrete, with eight 5-sided pilasters, and room on top for a res-
taurant, which, as planned (but not as constructed), was to rotate. A floor just under the
restaurant houses the kitchen. Spiral stairs and two lifts run alongside the pilasters.
There is also a coffee bar on the ground floor with a cloakroom, services, and
stand-by rooms. The construction works were executed in 1957–60.
The original restaurant was closed in the early 1980s, and the building deteriorated.
The decay was stopped in about 1990, when a new restaurant opened and refits were
made. Due to its spectacular view, the restaurant has attracted legions of diners.
At least two cult films have utilized the Fungo. Michelangelo Antonioni’s black
and white drama L’Eclisse (The Eclipse) [1962], displays the Fungo as a symbol
of alienation (a burning subject in Italian films of the 1960s). The building appears
again in Adulterio all’Italiana (Adultery Italian Style), a 1966 film.
Although the original Fungo was not designed to support advertising, a steel cover
was installed atop the restaurant to display commercial advertisements: it is inevitable
that some companies want their name on it, well visible from afar but not included in
(Fig. 6.34)(Rome, 2012).

Fig. 6.34 Il Fungo, Rome, Italy.
Photo by M. Laraia, 2009.