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The life and career of Arturo Mezzedimi are the rare tale of an immigrant who conquered the main stage of his adoptive motherland. This paper reconstructs the trajectory of a young technical surveyor who became the semi-official architect of Ethiopia’s last emperor, Haile Selassie. From his apprenticeship in Asmara’s Italian bourgeois society to the construction of “Selassie’s gifts” to Eritrea, Mezzedimi reached the highest levels of achievement, building the Africa Hall and the United Nations headquarters in Africa, and shaping the modern face of Addis Ababa as the moral capital of a continent. The paper reassesses Mezzedimi as a cosmopolitan global expert with a gift for interpreting Haile Selassie’s ambitions to mix European modernity and resilient Ethiopian traditions. This process of cross-pollination led the Italian architect to interpret Ethiopian millennial history and future aspirations while acquiring a self-taught professionalism that allowed him to design and build more than 250 constructions at an impressive pace of hyper-production. 1 A photo in Arturo Mezzedimi’s personal archive in Rome shows the family in Naples on the day of the. 2 Giuseppe Faraci, “Gli italiani in Etiopia,” Touring Club Italiano, April 1966, p.

303-314.1In 1940 Arturo Mezzedimi, an 18-year-old student from the small village of Poggibonsi near Siena, embarked with his family on a boat in Naples to visit his father, a farmer and entrepreneur living in Asmara, Eritrea. Twenty-five years later, on February 4, 1965, the emperor Haile Selassie would grant him the highest medal of the Ethiopian Empire in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II on the occasion of the opening of Addis Ababa’s City Hall.

What was intended as a short trip was extended by approximately 35 years, becoming the adventure of a lifetime and a remarkable professional trajectory. 3 The Italian presence in Eritrea began in 1879 when Giuseppe Sapeto formalized the acquisition of A. 4 Data on the population was gathered in Consociazione Turistica Italiana, Guida d’Italia, Africa Ori. 5 Marcello Mezzedimi, from an interview conducted by the author and Filippo De Dominicis in Milan, S2In February 1941 British and French forces defeated the fascist army in the Battle of Keren, and on May 8, 1941, Amedeo di Savoia surrendered at Amba Alagi: Italian rule on the Horn of Africa had come to an end. Eritrea became a British protectorate, and Mezzedimi, along with his entire family, was blocked on African soil in the city of Asmara. In those years Asmara, the capital of Italian Eritrea, had 98,000 inhabitants—53,000 of whom were Italian settlers—and was one of the biggest cities of sub-Saharan Africa. Mezzedimi completed his education and began his career in the cradle of these wealthy and active Italian communities, graduating as a technical surveyor from the Istituto Tecnico per Geometri Vittorio Bottego before beginning work as a graphic designer and painter of advertising signs.

The strong Italian community constituted a fertile ground and, despite turbulent global political events, Asmara’s dynamic entrepreneurial environment allowed Mezzedimi to overcome initial economic difficulties and establish himself as an independent designer fully versed in the technical and functional implications of the process of conception and construction of a building. 6 Salvago Raggi’s plan is analyzed in Giulia Barrera, Alessandro Triulzi and Gabriel Tzeggai, Asmara. 7 The first Congresso Nazionale di Urbanistica was held in Rome, in the Palazzo della Sapienza, on th. 8 For a deeper understanding of the complex history of post-war Asmara see Angelo Del Boca, Gli Itali. 9 Ibid., p. 134.31940s Asmara was de facto an Italian city even under British occupation.

The racial segregation between Europeans and Africans, first implemented by Giuseppe Salvago Raggi in 1908 and further discussed during the 1937 Congresso di urbanistica coloniale was never fully effective even in Vittorio Cafiero’s 1939 plan. Few of the 17,000 Italians who remained in Eritrea under British occupation identified with the residues of fascism. Few accepted the provocative British propaganda, which, while recognizing Asmara’s measured grandeur, deplored the “super-fascist” appearance of the city and the state of poverty that the war had imposed on native populations; and many—almost all—continued the controversial but fruitful work of collaboration that led Asmara to be an Italian city with a cosmopolitan vocation.

Between 1941 and 1950, when Eritrea was placed under control of the United Nations, thereby linking Eritrea and Ethiopia through a loose federal structure under the sovereignty of the emperor, Asmara continued its arc of pre-war economic growth, seeing the creation, among others, of the Magnotti brothers’ nail factory, the Salumificio Torinese, the IVA Asmara Wine Industry, the IFMA Matches Industry Asmara, the PRODEMAR industry for the production of pearl buttons, and the engineer Carlo Tabacchi’s Ceramic industry. 10 Like the strikes and clashes of 1943, which involved workers from Eritrean and Italian companies. S. 11 The names of the clients are taken from the list compiled by Mezzedimi on the occasion of the exhib. 12 The Bahobesci Building, from 1953, was the first building designed and constructed by Mezzedimi wi4The British mandate, which left the Italians in control of civil administration, laid the foundations for a transition based on the continuity of relations between former colonizers and the colonized. This attitude, despite some underlying contradictions, allowed for the growth of a progressive and independent cosmopolitan middle class.

To understand the different realities that constituted the postcolonial transition, it is enough to note the names of Mezzedimi’s clients in Asmara: Bahobesci, Mingardi, Ceci, Trinci, Babatin, Becchio, Bion, Moledina, Sciausc, Beshir, Kahjee Dossa, Patrignani, Mutahar Said, and Shoa Benin—entrepreneurs from Italy, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Palestine, and the Gulf States who invested in the construction of the city and entrusted Mezzedimi with representing their social status. A building commissioned by the Bahobesci family in 1953 shows Mezzedimi’s willingness to shape Asmara post-war cosmopolitan conditions: the large building comprises six floors with a long facade composed of a multitude of loggias, balconies, terraces, and overhangs. Technological appropriateness, the savvy distribution of spaces, and urban traditions meet in the search for a new building type, the high-density housing block, which was intended as a tool for the development of a fully modern city. 13 Mia Fuller, Moderns Abroad: Architecture, Cities and Italian Imperialism, London and New York: Rout.

14 Anthony King, Colonial Urban Development: Culture, Social Power and Environment, London and Boston:. 15 Quoted in Maristella Casciato, “Da campo militare a capitale: Asmara colonia italiana e oltre,” Inc5The unique circumstances of the Eritrean capital, paradoxically, partially solved the contradiction inherent to any colonial city.

The similar conditions faced by the Italian and Eritrean populations—both immigrated from the motherland or from the surrounding countryside—their numerical equivalence, and the necessity for collaboration allowed for the creation of a bourgeois society. The racial segregation, despite a clear imbalance in the level of planning of different parts of the city, never fully led to physical separation.

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Asmara, in spite of fascist planning tools, grew almost naturally from a village to a city with its workers’ residences, mixed-use zones, commercial areas, and dwellings, openly challenging any attempt at a clear racial separation. This physical proximity soon transformed into social promiscuity, with a shy but growing cosmopolitanism that made Asmara a unique case in the complex framework of colonial Africa. If, as Anthony King has argued, the colonial city is characterized by a physical apartheid between different ethnic, social, and cultural groups, Asmara never fully reached this condition. In 1940, at Mezzedimi’s arrival, as well as during the following years, Asmara was, in the words of its own inhabitants, a city with “a lot of traffic, shops and everything we could possibly want we lived very well, it was a big town with many cinemas and restaurants; it was simply a beautiful city, populated by Italians, Africans and mix-raced.”.

16 Casa Sciausc, built between 1946 and 1947, clearly shows this contamination process with an Arab Ma6Mezzedimi perfectly personified the cosmopolitan spirit of the city and enjoyed a level of wealth that was impossible on a European continent reduced to rubble. As a young self-taught professional Mezzedimi fully exploited the vibrant life of the city, producing designs for dwellings, villas, factories, shops, and commercial spaces at an impressive rate.

The architectural concepts displayed in these buildings show a personal vocabulary of Italian rationalism learned mainly from the few architectural journals and books available in Africa, mixed with influences from Arab and Ethiopian architecture. 17 Filippo De Dominicis, “Il razionalismo efficace di Arturo Mezzedimi,” in Benno Albrecht, Filippo De. 18 Mezzedimi worked alongside the best Italian companies permanently present in Eritrea: the concrete7At the age of 22 Mezzedimi embarked on his first major project: the Mingardi swimming pool, a leisure building constructed in the middle of World War II that showed the deep distance—physical and emotional—from the conflict.

The construction was a complex architectural and technical work that required a long series of design tests through which the architect perfected distribution patterns and gradually calibrated technical solutions in keeping with available materials and labor. In doing so he built a solid relationship between the modern leisure building and the city, in spatial and cultural terms, giving architecture a public character that made it an integral part of the urban landscape.

From the first solutions, including a long curtain facade, to the complex volumetric configuration that characterizes the final construction, Mezzedimi undertook a process of modifying and shaping the building. As the technical data were integrated into the architectural discourse, it was gradually pared down to the essential elements, and the hierarchy of the parts that made up the whole became progressively clearer. The arrangement of the pool, the roof, the distinction between main spaces and service areas, the search for different solutions for the corner, the main prospect and the shading device on the terrace are the key steps through which the architect formed his design. 19 Filippo De Dominicis, “Piscina Mingardi Asmara 1944-1945,” in Benno Albrecht, Filippo De Dominicis. 20 Information on the Piscina Mingardi is taken from paper cuttings kept in Mezzedimi’s personal archi8On the morning of September 2, 1945, while the emperor of Japan was signing the end of World War II, Asmara’s entire Italian community was gathered around Mezzedimi and Ines Mingardi, the owner of the pool, for the inauguration of a building considered of great interest for the entire population. The press gave news of the construction of the building, focusing on the high quality of the mechanical and technical characteristics: the size of the pool (which, at 9 x 20 meters, was considered exceptional given the confined space and irregularity of the area) and the number of services that the designers had succeeded in building. Great importance was assigned to the mechanisms that allowed the continuous rotation of the water, completely filtered twice a day.

21 “Una piscina ad Asmara,” Domus, vol. 2, no. 233, 1949, p. Gio Ponti’s letter is dated April 26,9During this apprenticeship phase in Asmara Mezzedimi was mainly engaged in private commissions and, although he was not trained as an architect, he worked essentially alone, dealing with the architectural design as well as structural calculations and cooperating with external technicians only in rare cases, often for the preparation of in-depth design of mechanical systems. The ongoing, self-administered professional training that the architect pursued was indispensable in searching for the most effective solutions, and these were never realized in a uniform language: each construction can be recognized only from the special domestic and urban conditions for which it was designed and built. Mezzedimi searched for recognition of his work in his home country. In a 1949 issue of Domus the pool was described as “a swimming pool built in Asmara a remarkable construction obtained with local materials and work force.” A thank-you note personally signed by the editor Gio Ponti confirms his appreciation of Mezzedimi’s work. 22 Angelo Del Boca from an interview conducted by the author and Daniela Ruggeri in Turin, July 2015. 23 This concept is expressed by Haile Selassie in his speech to the population of Addis Ababa on the d.

24 The details of Eritrea’s association with Ethiopia were established by the UN General Assembly Reso10The initial contact between Mezzedimi and the emperor Haile Selassie is yet to be fully disclosed. Angelo Del Boca, the most important historian of Italian colonialism and post-war Ethiopia, contended that the lack of technical experts in the 1950s must have made it simple for a young and talented architect living in Asmara to be introduced at the imperial Ghebbi.

Haile Selassie fully understood the importance of the Italian community in the modernization of his nation, so much so that he granted personal protection to the community from any harm caused by retaliation after the end of the fascist occupation. The strong relationship that Mezzedimi forged with Haile Selassie from the early 1950s was a turning point in his career, affording him the possibility of increasing the quantity and quality of his work. Mezzedimi’s designs functioned as a key element in Haile Selassie’s politics towards Eritrea throughout the 1950s. In 1950 the United Nations had approved a federation between Ethiopia and Eritrea that had effectively made the second a colony of the first.

Haile Selassie considered Eritrea to be an essential element of his empire, allowing him to break Ethiopia’s landlocked condition, seen as an obstacle to economic growth. In order to contain social unrest, he constructed a series of buildings in Asmara, Massawa, and Assab, the main Eritrean cities, and to a lesser extent in Ethiopian rural areas. 25 Many of these buildings are included in an article present in Mezzedimi’s personal archive and titl11Among Mezzedimi’s impressive list of constructions one may include “regime gifts”: the Menen Hospital in Asmara, the Navy Academy in Assab, the St. Mariam church in Massawa, the St. Stephanos church in Assab, the Mosque in Agordat, the General Hospital in Assab, the General Hospital in Massawa, the Giyorgis Bete church in Adi Ugri, and the St. Michele church in Asmara. All of these buildings were constructed between 1953 and 1958 alongside numerous other private and public designs. In this period Mezzedimi partially challenged his previous attachment to rationalism, expressing an unprecedented freedom that resulted in a entirely personal language. The radically different topographic conditions and the public importance of each project did not allow for a process of standardization, but called instead for a search for an architectural expression adapted to specific functional and climatic conditions.

31 For a discussion on the reasons for the construction of rock-hewn churches and their architectural. 32 Daniela Ruggeri, “Chiesa Copta Debra Sina 1954-1955,” in Benno Albrecht, Filippo De Dominicis and J14Mezzedimi also had the chance to construct numerous churches, from his homage to Antonio Sant’Elia in the temple of Giyorgis Bete in Adi Ugri to the pinnacle structure of the La Salle Chapel in Asmara, from the reinterpretation of traditional stonework in the Cemetery Chapel in Asmara to the classicist revival of St. Stephanos in Assab. One of the most interesting buildings, however, is the small Coptic church in the village of Debra Sina, a remote monastery on the mountain outskirts of Addis Ababa. Here Mezzedimi faced, both physically and conceptually, one of the wonders of Ethiopian millennial culture, the astonishing rock-hewn churches that historians date back as far as the 2nd century AD and that are scattered throughout the nation. The zone of Lalibela, on the border between Ethiopia and Eritrea, is the most renowned, but rock-hewn churches can be found in the Tigray region, near Aksum, in the zone east of Keren near Goba, and in the Bale region more than 1,600 kilometers south of Lalibela. In the case of Debra Sina the church, intended as a chapel for a yearly pilgrimage, is a small volume carved inside a spherical rock. The new building designed by Mezzedimi is a pure cube in front of the existing chapel, built, due to the lack of infrastructural connections, entirely in stone carved from the nearby mountains.

The modern building does not show any material discontinuity with the surroundings; it is the treatment of the material that differentiates the built structure from its context: the polish of the stone blocks gives the new church a perfectly smooth surface that contrasts with the hewn stone of the chapel, imperfect and wrinkled. The different treatment is used to distinguish the two volumes without creating a clear break: the two chapels are, in this way, dimensionally comparable, establishing a close relationship between the ancient sphere and the modern cube. 33 The terms illustrating Debra Sina church are taken from the descriptions presented in Mario Di Salv. 34 A picture in Mezzedimi’s archive shows a young Arturo in front of the obelisks in Aksum with a grou15With this building Mezzedimi shows a deep understanding of and appreciation for his adoptive country’s traditional architecture.

In Debra Sina, the new building is shaped spatially as a completion of the existing building. Reading the two elements as a single sequence of spaces, it is possible to identify the exonarthex, with two misaligned entrance doors, the main hypostyle hall with a square plan, and finally the old chapel, which can be accessed through a filter space. The sequence is the same as in Our Lady Mary of Zion in Aksum and the temple in Yeha: in this building the tripartite scheme is developed through a short narthex ( quene ̄ ma ̄ hle ̄ t), followed by a hypostyle room ( queddest) in front of a deep altar ( maqdas).

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Mezzedimi’s extensive travels allowed him to get to know his adoptive nation and were also an opportunity to deepen his study of traditional sacred buildings. He closely observed the many examples scattered throughout the immense imperial territory. The sum of Mezzedimi’s projects in the Eritrean territory shows that the only possible rule regarding his architectural choices is the absence of fixed rules. Uniqueness becomes the rule. His production of sacred buildings, in particular, is marked by only a few repeated elements, while their diversity is constant, dictated from time to time by the urban context, environmental conditions, or specific ceremonial needs. 35 Prince Sahle Selassie (1931-1962) was the youngest child of Emperor Haile Selassie and Empress Mene.

36 Kwame Nkrumah (1909-1972) led Ghana to independence from Britain in 1957 and served as its first pr. 37 Teshale Tibebu, “Ethiopia the ‘Anomaly’ and ‘Paradox’ Of Africa,” Journal of Black Studies, no. 26,16In 1958 Mezzedimi was called urgently to the imperial Ghebbi in Addis Ababa by Haile Selassie, who exposed his latest request; the construction, within a year, of the African headquarters of the United Nations in Addis Ababa: the Africa Hall. Mezzedimi immediately understood the tremendous scope of his task and decided to abandon his beloved Asmara and move definitively, with his staff, to Addis Ababa. Haile Selassie’s decision to host the United Nations was likely triggered by the enthusiast reports brought by his son Sahle Selassie of the first “All-African Peoples’ Conference” organized in Accra by Ghana’s first president and Pan-African leader Kwame Nkrumah. 38 The “wretched of the earth” is the popular definition, coined by Franz Fanon, of protagonists in th. 39 The former ruling Imperial House of the Ethiopian Empire, known as the House of Solomon, claims a p.

40 Kenyatta and Thwaite are quoted in S.K.B. Asante, Pan-African Protest: West Africa and the Italo-Et17Paradoxically Pan-Africanism, a movement born in the cosmopolitan circuits of the black diaspora and intended as a tool for global liberation of the “wretched of the earth,” needed as a representative the elder heir of a biblical dynasty. Nkrumah saw in Haile Selassie the icon of his regional and cosmopolitan political project. Ethiopian resistance to fascist Italy led Jomo Kenyatta to affirm, “Ethiopians are the sole remaining pride of African and Negros in all parts of the world,” while for Daniel Thwaite Ethiopia was the “shrine enclosing the impregnable rock of black resistance against white invasion, a living symbol, an incarnation of African independence.”. 45 Angelo Del Boca, Il Negus, op. (note 23), p.

280. 46 Livio Pesce, “In Africa Finisce l’era dei Tam Tam,” Epoca, June 2, 1963.19The Negus showed a constant fascination for Addis Ababa, the best of Ethiopia in its most traditional and genuine version, but also for Europe, a very different world of which he sensed not the superiority but the indispensable technical complementarity. The objective of Haile Selassie’s life, largely unsuccessful, “was to harmonize Ethiopian provincialism with European modernism.” Architecture in Africa became one of the tools of this cross-pollination process. The fact that it has long been entrusted to global experts, such as Mezzedimi, emphasizes not only the technical limitations of much of the continent but also its ability to absorb and internalize foreign influences, the prevalence of a cosmopolitan look, and the resilience of local traditions. The history of modern architecture in Africa, in particular in the work of Mezzedimi, should be read not as a mere technical or cultural fact but as a precise political act in favor of the construction of a continent fully expressing its vitality in terms of development. The continent was aptly described by an Italian journalist at the opening of the Africa Hall as having “its feet in the Neolithic age and its head in the nuclear one.”.

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54 Benno Albrecht, “L’architetto del Black Messiah,” in Benno Albrecht, Filippo De Dominicis and Jacop23After completing the prestigious project of the Africa Hall Mezzedimi was established as the semi-official architect of the imperial court. If the 1940s were a period of apprenticeship and the 1950s a time of searching for an autonomous design language, the 1960s were years of professional maturity, reached at the impressive age of 40. During this period Mezzedimi had the chance to work on key private and public designs in Addis Ababa, Asmara, and the rest of the country, fully reaching a rhythm of hyper-production. In this abundance of professional opportunities, the concrete risk was a search for vain distinction or arrogant uniformity that could lead to pretentious invention. Mezzedimi managed to avoid this risk. He approached his innumerable tasks with decorum, measured sobriety, and a sense of moderation controlled by education, qualities that characterize all his buildings, even those conceived in the most challenging circumstances and exposed to potential criticism. The search for a right middle way is the essential component of the search for decorum, which is both an ethical and aesthetic ideal, a balance and respect of things, the desire to be fair and comply with the laws of behavior in order to achieve optimum moderation.

55 The extraordinary tale of Ethiopian Airlines is presented in Ben Guttery, Encyclopedia of African A. 56 Paul Henze, Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia, London: Hurst & Co., 2000.24Mezzedimi’s work embodied Haile Selassie’s ideas of modernization and showed all the contradictions not only of 1960s Ethiopia but of the global decolonization process: the cohabitation between the future and the past, the modern and the archaic, the opulent and the indigent. This condition was very present in a country with only two railways, a few highways left by the Italian occupation, and more than thirty airports with daily national, regional, and international flights. The foundation in 1946 of Ethiopian Airlines, with the telling motto “The Wings of Modern Africa,” was a clear symbol of the imperial dreams of modernization and at the same time of their limits: the image of a donkey climbing the Ethiopian rifts substituted by a Douglas DC -3 airplane shows a nation that willingly forgot its condition in the present in order to jump directly into a bright, imagined future. 62 Henri Chomette (1921-1995) was a key figure in French architecture in sub-Saharan Africa.

His archi. 63 Zalman Enav worked extensively in Ethiopia throughout the 1960s, and eventually was appointed on be. 64 Enrico Mania, “Benevenuti nella capitale morale dell'Africa,” op. (note 43), p. 108.26The central tower is the result of cross-pollination between the medieval towers of Tuscan cities, the rationalist Torri Littorie, and the Aksum obelisks of Ethiopian tradition. The facade behind the tower consists of an imposing breathing wall, the architectural device that became an icon of modernist adaptation in the tropics, shaped with an elegant hexagonal pattern deformed to modulate the solar radiation in various parts of the building. The City Hall became the manifesto of a capital that “is under the influence of different architectural schools: there is the Latin school with its creativity and inventiveness, represented by architect Arturo Mezzedimi and Henri Chomette who designed the Haile Selassie I theater, the Commercial Bank and other palaces and villas. Then there are the Nordic school with Norconsultant, designer of the chamber of commerce and a high number of other buildings and the study Enav-Tedros, designer of the imposing building of the University Haile Selassie I, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Filoha baths.”.

69 Filippo De Dominicis, “Finfinne Building Addis Abeba 1965-1968,” in Benno Albrecht, Filippo De Domi. 70 “The Growing of Addis Ababa,” The Ethiopian Herald, September 11, 1965. 71 The work of Mezzedimi as an urban planner is yet to be fully researched. Few documents are kept in29The strong modernity expressed by Mezzedimi’s design, openly challenging the vision of Africa as a backward, prehistoric continent, was further epitomized in the large private buildings constructed in the capital to host offices of the key economic players in the fast-developing Ethiopia. The Finfinne Building is a twelve-story structure whose main facade juxtaposes a glass wall with the screen of a vertical brise-soleil, which develops seamlessly up the full height of the building. The two blind sides, fissured only by a long central cut, frame the brise-soleil, tightening the sides and setting the size for the frame. The notion of a frame is a dominant feature of the Zauditu Building, where the continuous box is broken into a strip that tempers the steepness of the design area through a difference in the number of stories from one side to the other.

The strip fully embraces the building, becoming a device for protection from direct sunlight, a terrace for the lower floors, and a large rooftop for the top ones. In the ERESCO Building and in the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia climate comfort is reached by protecting the ribbon windows with a small projection of each floor, thereby forming a large shadow.

In these buildings Mezzedimi explores all the structural and constructive possibilities of a large-scale office complex and definitively demonstrates his ability to manage large-scale design with a full awareness of all the necessary information and technical features. The importance of Mezzedimi’s studio was recognized on a national and international level, as he was awarded structural works for the country such as the drafting of twenty-two urban plans between 1966 and 1968 and the design and construction of twenty-eight schools, financed by the United Nations, between 1967 and 1972.

78 Benno Albrecht, “L'architetto del Black Messiah,” op. (note 53), p. 8-19. 79 Ulrich Beck, What is Globalization?, Malden: Polity, 2000, p. 73. 80 Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Epistulae ad Lucilium, Fernando Solinas (ed.), Milan: Mondadori, 1995, p. 432What is most evident in Mezzedimi’s life and architecture is an aspect closely linked to Italian humanist culture: the ability, typically Italian, to expand the boundaries of a small homeland, to reach the entire world, and naturally to feel at home in each part of the world. Mezzedimi lived a life characterized by a transnational spatial polygamy. As a migrant attached to several places at once, he belonged to different worlds through a process of cultural mixing, adaptation, and cross-pollination that anticipated what Ulrich Beck would define as the globalization of biography. It is a cosmopolitan and stoic capacity that fits fully with Mezzedimi’s spirit, as reflected in words written nineteen centuries earlier by Lucius Annaeus Seneca: “we must live with this belief, I was not born for one corner of land, my country is the whole universe.”.

. 4-speed. 5-speed. 3-speedDimensions2,490 mm (98.0 in)Length4,230 to 4,264 mm (166.5 to 167.9 in)Width1,644 to 1,651 mm (64.7 to 65.0 in)Height1,381 to 1,411 mm (54.4 to 55.6 in)950 to 1,145 kg (2,094 to 2,524 lb)ChronologyPredecessorSuccessorThe Fiat 131 is a manufactured and marketed by from 1974 to 1984 after its debut at the 1974. Available as a two-door and four-door and 5-door across a single generation, the 131 succeeded the.The 131 was also marketed as the Fiat Mirafiori, after the suburb where the cars were manufactured. Initially, the 131 was offered with 1.3 L and 1.6 L and the range received revisions in 1978 and 1981. Production reached 1,513,800.

Contents.Specifications The Fiat 131 used bodywork for its and used a, layout, where the is front-mounted. The is directly behind the engine, and a tubular, under the transmission 'tunnel', transmits the drive to a solid live rear axle.The engines were all types, derived from those used in the outgoing 124 range, with a. Initially the 131 was offered only with pushrod valve gear, which offered the innovation of being the worldwide first engine with OHV valve gear and a belt driven camshaft. Only later in the model’s life came the well known double (DOHC) engines which used a toothed. Fuel supply was via a single ADF twin-, fed from a mounted steel. Traditional were used, usually with.The system utilised fully independent front suspension, with,. The rear suspension was quite advanced (when using a solid live rear axle), in that the rear axle was controlled by double unequal length trailing arms and a, with and direct acting.

This design proved far superior to many of its contemporaries, especially with vehicle stability and handling.The was also typical; the front brakes were, using a solid iron disc and a single-piston sliding caliper. The rears were (a technological backwards step from the 124, which used discs all round), utilising leading and trailing shoe design operated by a dual piston fixed slave cylinder.

They were operated, with a tandem assisted by a vacuum using two separate circuits. A rear-mounted load sensing valve varied the bias of effort applied to the rear brakes, dependent on the load being carried (and also the pitch dynamics caused by braking effort and road levels). A centrally located floor mounted operated on the rear axle using.The car's interior had its secondary dashboard switches illuminated by a central bulb with fibre optic distribution to the switches.Series 1, 1974–78 The Fiat 131 Mirafiori was introduced at the in late October 1974.The 131 came with a choice of a 1,297 cc (1.3 L) or 1,585 cc (1.6 L), both from the first introduced on the.

Both engines were fitted with a single twin-choke 32 ADF. A 4-speed was standard, with a 5-speed manual and a 3-speed optional on the 1600 engine only.The initial range comprised eleven different models. There were three body styles: 2-door, 4-door saloon and Familiare ( Estate on the British market). Station wagons were built by in Spain, but were labelled Fiats for all non-Spanish markets. Trim levels were two; the entry-level 131 Mirafiori (also known as 'Normale' or 'Standard') had single square, wheels and dished from the 124, and simplified interior furnishings. Next was the better appointed 131 Mirafiori Special (or simply 'S'), which could be distinguished from the base model by its quadruple circular headlamps, specific, side rubbing strips, chrome window surrounds, and rubber inserts.

Inside it added different instrumentation with triple square dials, a padded adjustable, cloth, and reclining seats. Additionally the more sophisticated options—such as, and —were exclusive to the Special. Each body style could be combined with either of the engines and trim levels—save for the Special estate which only came with the larger engine.US market versions had a 1.8 litre inline-four and were available with a GM three-speed automatic transmission.' S Autocostruzioni S.D., located near, offered a nearly 5-metre long '131 Diplomatic' limousine conversion. ModelEngine code×Mirafiori 1300131A.0001,297 cc (1.3 L)75.0 × 71.5 mmsingle twin-choke32 ADF65 PS (48 kW; 64 hp) at 5400 rpmMirafiori Special 1300Familiare 1300Mirafiori 1600131A1.0001,585 cc (1.6 L)84.0 × 71.5 mm75 PS DIN (55 kW; 74 hp) at 5400 rpmMirafiori Special 1300Familiare 1600Familiare Special 1600Abarth Rallyn/a16-valve I41,995 cc (2.0 L)84.0 × 90.0 mmsingle twin-chokeWeber 34 ADF140 PS DIN (103 kW; 138 hp) at 6400 rpmUS versionI41,756 cc (1.8 L)n/a87 PS (64 kW; 86 hp). Fiat 131 Abarth Rally In 1976, 400 examples of the Fiat 131 Abarth were built for purposes. These cars were built in a cooperation between,.

Bertone took part-completed two door standard bodyshells from the production line in Mirafiori, fitted plastic mudguards front and rear, a plastic and bootlid and modified the metal structure to accept the rear. The cars were fully painted and trimmed and then delivered back to the Fiat special plant where they received the Abarth mechanicals.The of the car used a per derivative of the standard quad cam, equipped with a double 34 ADF producing 140 PS (138 bhp; 103 kW) at 6400 rpm and 172 N⋅m; 127 lbf⋅ft (17.5 kg⋅m) at 3600 rpm of. The street cars used the standard with no (Rally type regulations required the use of the same type of synchromesh on the competition cars as on the street versions) and the hopelessly underdimensioned system of the small. Competition cars used lubrication and eventually. In race specifications, the engine produced up to 240 PS (237 bhp; 177 kW) in 1980, being driven to status by.

131 Hybrid In 1980, Fiat presented the 131 Ibrido, an experimental prototype featuring the small 903 cc engine from the engine, de-tuned to 33 hp (25 kW), and mated to a 24 kW DC electric motor. Power is also provided by regeneration via the braking system. The 250 amp batteries are located in the boot, adding 175 kg (386 lb) to the weight. Series 3 The 131 was updated again in March 1981. By this time, the car was no longer offered in the USA. Production of the Racing/Sport versions ceased, although these were sold well into 1982. The same 2.0 TC (twin cam) engine went to the Supermirafiori.

The car was renamed 131 Super Brava in Australia. The car received a slightly updated interior (instruments, single-piece glovebox lid), whilst lower rubbing strips found their way onto all models up to CL specification. The Supermirafiori received larger lower door cladding. Mechanically, Mirafiori versions now received overhead cam engines rather than pushrod versions; a new 1.4 litre engine and a revised 1.6 litre. Also new were the clutch and gearboxes, a tweaked suspension was also introduced and the gas tank increased in size by three litres, for a total 53 L (14.0 US gal; 11.7 imp gal) capacity.In June 1981, a new sport version, the Volumetrico Abarth, was introduced to some markets, with a supercharged version of the familiar 2 litre. This car, also known as the 2000 TC Compressore, was built in a small series (about 200 units ) and could reach 190 km/h (118 mph).In 1983, the production of the saloon version was discontinued, but the estate, now named 131 Maratea, remained in production with two engine choices (115 PS 2.0 TC and 72 PS 2.5 D) until 1985, when they were replaced with the -based Weekend.

Motorsport The 131 as a rally car Fiat 131 Rally's precursor the 3.5-litre Abarth SE 031 won. The Fiat 131 was a very successful, winning the manufacturers' three times: in, and in.With this car won the FIA Cup for Drivers and won the drivers' World Rally Championship.Between 1976 and 1981 the Fiat 131 won 20 WRC events; other notable drivers were, and.Between 1975 and 1977 the official 'works' cars carried the Olio Fiat blue and yellow, then during 1978 and 1979 seasons they were sponsored by Italian airline and bore their distinctive red, white and green livery. 1980 SEAT 131, SpainThe started its production in early 1975 in Barcelona with two versions initially offered: SEAT 131 L, featuring rectangular front lamps, 1,438 cc OHC engine and 4 speed gearbox and SEAT 131 E featuring four round headlamps, 1,592 cc DOHC engine and 5 speed gearbox. The range grew up in 1976 with the SEAT 131 Familiar, estate version offered with both engines.

In 1977 the 131 Automatico (Automatic gearbox) was released and the following year a very short production of the SEAT 131 CLX 1800 was offered. Spain was the only place where the estate 131 was built, but in the export these were labelled Fiat 131 Familiare.In 1978, the SEAT 131 evolved into the SEAT 131 Mirafiori/Supermirafiori (Panorama for the estate versions), with the same changes as seen on its Italian cousin.

The engines remained largely the same, but a 1.8 litre Diesel engine was available in 1979.A further CLX special edition was launched in 1980. Available only in metallic silver or metallic bronze colours, this 131 CLX had a 1,919 cc engine, developing 114 PS (84 kW) at 5,800 rpm.In 1981, the Diesel version was developed with a new Sofim engine. This 2,500 cc engine was much more powerful than the Perkins version (72 hp against only 49 hp) and was one of the most successful taxis in early '80s Spain.In 1982, the SEAT 131 changed again, gathering all the body changes seen on the Fiat 131 series 3. The 131 was now available in CL, Supermirafiori and Diplomatic versions. The Diplomatic was the top of the range, with a 1,995 cc engine and features such as power steering, power windows or air conditioning.

The Panorama versions were the cars chosen by the 'Cuerpo Nacional de Policia' (Spanish Police force) as patrol cars.In 1984, the SEAT 131 range was discontinued, without a direct substitute and the -based took its place in 1985.Murat 131.