Ex Caserma Zucchi, today Palazzo Dossetti, is located at Viale Antonio Allegri 9, in Reggio Emilia.
Historical Notes
The Ex Caserma Zucchi, now Palazzo Dossetti, was built in the heart of the 19th century, during a period of great urban transformation in Reggio Emilia. It was designed by architect Pietro Marchelli (1806-1874), a leading figure in Reggio Emilia’s architectural culture, who also designed works such as the Teatro Ariosto and the Palazzo del Capitano del Popolo.
Entrance to the ex Caserma Zucchi, now Palazzo Zucchetti, from Viale Allegri
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Commissioned by Duke Francesco IV d’Este in 1845, the building was initially conceived as a cattle market, a place for the livestock market and a storage area for the annona (the city’s food reserves). The function of the Foro Boario, inaugurated in 1853, was part of a broader policy of controlling and rationalizing the distribution of resources by the Duchy.
With the birth of the Kingdom of Italy and the institutional changes of the second half of the 19th century, the building lost its original function and, in 1877, was converted to military use, taking the name Caserma Zucchi in memory of General Carlo Zucchi, a patriot from Reggio who distinguished himself during the Risorgimento uprisings .
During the 20th century, the barracks played a significant role in the Second World War: on the night between September 8 and 9, 1943, Italian soldiers attempted to resist German troops but were overwhelmed in a tragic episode that has remained in the city’s memory, in which artillerymen Antonio Giannone, Lino Bertone, and Carlo Giannotti lost their lives.
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Beginning in the 1980s, after its military function was abandoned, the building was gradually repurposed for cultural and educational purposes, becoming one of the centers of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (UNIMORE). On February 9, 2013, the Reggio Emilia university building was named after Constituent Assembly member and jurist Giuseppe Dossetti.
This transition is part of a broader urban regeneration process that has affected several Italian historic complexes, transformed from military spaces into places of education and active citizenship.
The Architecture
Pietro Marchelli’s design fully reflects the neoclassical style, which found fertile ground in Reggio Emilia during the 19th century.
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The original layout of the Foro Boario featured a large open portico, used for the display and trading of livestock. The structure was distinguished by the modular regularity of its arches and the symmetrical layout, typical of the neoclassical language adopted by Marchelli.
With the conversion into a barracks, the porticoes were gradually filled in, transforming the open spaces into enclosed spaces more suitable for housing troops and administrative offices. This operation, however, did not erase the monumentality of the main façade, which still retains its austere and balanced character today.
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The architecture, defined by an imposing and solemn façade overlooking Viale Allegri, is part of the trend of 19th-century public buildings that combined functionality and representation. The restoration work carried out in the 2000s, during its conversion into a university campus, respected the original neoclassical design, enhancing its monumentality while ensuring the usability of the interior spaces for classrooms and academic offices.
The interior
The interior of the Caserma Zucchi still retains the monumentality of the original layout, despite being profoundly transformed by its various functions over time. During the university conversion, the large spaces once used as warehouses, stables, and dormitories were reinterpreted for educational purposes, with the creation of classrooms, libraries, and common areas.
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The spaces are characterized by remarkable spaciousness and brightness, facilitated by the modular layout of the arches and high ceilings, elements that facilitated adaptation to contemporary needs without distorting the historical spatial perception. Some sections of the load-bearing walls and brick vaults remain visible, offering tangible evidence of the building’s layered construction.
The restoration focused on maintaining the dialogue between ancient and modern: the corridors and internal cloisters, once service spaces, have been reimagined as places for gathering and study, underscoring the building’s new academic vocation. This balance between conservation and innovation makes the former Caserma Zucchi not only a university campus, but also a laboratory of urban architecture, where the restoration of the historical origins are intertwined with its public and community function.
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Luciano Fabro’s Araba Fenice
The Araba Fenice (Phoenix) is located in the portico of the Ex Caserma Zucchi.
Created in 2005 by Luciano Fabro, a master of contemporary art, the work consists of a column of Iranian travertine-gold marble, approximately seven meters high, composed of three stacked drums.
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Its grooves follow the Vitruvian rules of classical proportion on the one hand, and the natural flow of the stone’s grain on the other, creating a helical movement that intertwines geometry and nature.
Fabro thus conceived a column that supports nothing, yet becomes a symbolic image of rebirth: the phoenix, capable of rising from its own ashes, refers to the transformation of the barracks themselves, from a military site to a space of culture and knowledge.
Part of the “Invitation to…” project, curated by Claudio Parmiggiani, the work establishes an intense dialogue with Marchelli’s neoclassical portico, enriching the building with a symbolic layering that blends historical memory and contemporary artistic language.
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