Americanization in Italy Post WWII

Signs of Americanization in Italian Domestic Life: Italy's Postwar Conversion to Consumerism

• Americanization significantly transformed Italy after World War II, but its influence was complex and not a simple adoption of American models.
• Italy demonstrated an unusual ability to remake and hybridize imported transatlantic models, especially in domestic settings post-1945.
• Italy underwent dramatic social and economic changes in the 15 years after the war, recovering from significant industrial and infrastructural damage to become a regional economic power.

Italy's Post-war Challenges

• Italy faced poverty and material resource scarcity, particularly in the rural South, as highlighted by American officers' reports.
• The appalling living conditions in Matera, with its sassi dwellings, symbolized the state of indigence in southern Italy and sparked public outrage.
• Despite this, it did not have a direct role in shaping the modernization drive.

Social and Economic Transformation in Italy

• Economic indicators in 1945 revealed low industrial output and agricultural production, but significant growth occurred between 1953 and 1963.
• The USA shaped social and economic changes through the European Recovery Plan (ERP), aiming to influence Italian society and everyday life.
• Ideas and models initially imported from America had little impact on everyday life. Intense public-sector construction, largely funded by the USA, continued with pre-war design traditions.

UNRRA-CASAS and Post-war Building Programs

• UNRRA-CASAS and INA-CASA, major building programs financed mainly by the USA, recycled pre-war building types within Italian architectural traditions.
• The UNRRA-CASAS plan built over 1000 villages featuring standardized units with slight variations tailored to geographical and climatic conditions.
• An emphasis was on rural life while rediscovering rural architecture and continuing anti-urban policies.
• Model dwellings prioritized sanitation and small cooking facilities.

Changes in Italian Society and the Influence of Americanization

• Fascism’s populist myth of the masses was confronted, creating a need to redefine citizenship.
• Citizenship was symbolically redefined in terms of domesticity, signaling a shift from public to private social life, with increased importance given to kitchens and living rooms.
• Privatization of life was not limited to northern urbanites, the effect also moved to immigrants settling in the north-west of Italy.
• Economic improvement and American cultural hegemony led to a home revolution.
• American programs attempted to account for the fast-changing social structures.
• There was a strong sense of family, but it was threatened by this modern drive.

Domestic Aesthetics

• From the mid-1950s there was a significant change in the aesthetics around homes, with architectural magazines like Domus promoting an Americanized image of the "modern" home interior.
• These publications influenced visual material dissemination, adopted by other media, associating them with Italian modernization symbols like cars.
• Non-specialized presses and women's magazines disseminated these themes, impacting middle- and lower-middle-class audiences.
• The circulation of these images likely modified desires more than realities, reflecting the rise of consumer society.
• During this time commodities from the USA were shipped to Italy to be displayed in public places.
• In 1951 the Ninth Milan Triennale presented electric kitchens and brooms that would wash floors.
• Early 1950s Italy still lagged behind America, due to American ideals of Italy and the fact they remained anchored in a highly-romanticized pre-industrial view of the country.

Television and Modernity

• The introduction of television in 1954 began Italy's economic miracle and transformation of domestic life.
• Initially, "collective" viewing transitioned to privatized reception by the late 1960s as sales increased and the sets became standard in living rooms.
• Television sets were labeled "American", as American consumerism framed images of Italian domestic modernity.
• Contemporaries welcomed this version of Italian modernization.
• Howard Whidden said that Old Continent was developing an 'American-style consumer market'.
• As the Italian economy grows, the abaility to resist communism would also grow stronger.

Transformations in Consumption and Living Spaces

• A Harvard Business Review article highlighted the increase in per capita consumption and domestic electric appliance use.
• This era was defined by generic information about what was coming, creating a production-driven to consumption-driven culture and economy.
• "Main Street, USA" at the Milan trade fair showcasing model American homes with modern appliances and tableware reflected the new lifestyle.
• They were open to women, suggesting they were the ones wanting to change the daily lives of homemakers.
• To meet new demands, those prototypes would be displayed at trade fairs and other places to try and show the country off.
• Proposed housing schemes were based around American houses, which led to controversy to their vision.
• Advertising campaigns like that of the Fiat 600 embodied modernization through male mobility and domesticity, albeit with traditional elements.
• The circulation of such American images triggered a variety of reactions.

Resistance and Evolution of Domesticity Ideals

• Studies like the 'Cornell Kitchen' provoked controversy, reflecting resistance to American models in favor of Italian traditions.
• Despite rebuffs, American domestic prototypes influenced Italian architectural design, like Domus.
• Concepts like modular kitchens and built-in cabinets became familiar, visually transforming domestic life.
• The tension between rejecting and assimilating American influence marked the Americanization of Italian everyday life.
• Exposure to new domestic ideas from the USA transformed expectations in Italian society.

The New "Architecture"

• The change in Architecture lead to social hierarchies being broken up and old ideas challenged.
• Olivetti was a housing consultancy which provided a large array of social services for its workforce.

The Modern "Home"

• An exhibition created modern apartments displayed modern appliances, for different area, showing home in several ways.
• Efforts tried to reconcile modernity with cultural resistance, leading to tensions and radicalization of Italian architectural culture in the following decade with new types of houses that allowed customization.
• New efforts gave different perspectives of modernity, but American ideas were still the basis for the future culture.
• Advertising campaigns showed families being domestic, but the "workers" in society seemed to be moving to individualism of consumer society instead of working together. In effect, the anti-communist way of life was pushed as the way forward.