The ATRIUM Cultural Route (Architecture of Totalitarian Regimes in Europe's Urban Memory) has its basis in a common urban and architectural heritage in Europe, which may be termed "dissonant" or "uncomfortable". The totalitarian and autocratic regimes, which characterized much of Europe during the central decades of the 20th century, had a major impact on urban and rural landscape. Whilst the democratic Europe, which emerged from the Second World War and the fall of the Berlin wall, is firmly based on the opposition to the totalitarian and autocratic regimes, their built heritage remains on the streets of our cities.
The ATRIUM Cultural Route brings together different European experiences in order to discover shared historical elements. The historical context varies from Fascist Italy (1920s-1930s) to the communist societies of Eastern Europe (1950s-1980s).