Colonia Marina XXVIIIOttobre (1932) on the Adriatic Coast at Cattolica (Rimini) was built to designs by Clemente Busiri-Vici. It was intended for the male children of expatriate Italians, and the well-known Scottish-Italian sculptor Eduardo Paolozzi attended ONB summer camps here. The remarkable dormitory buildings are presented in the dynamic form of locomotives and steamships, suggesting that the children weren't supposed to feel that they had arrived at any destination. The would-be colonists of the new Roman Empire were to be in continual transit.
Two of the original four dormitories survive. By some bizarre but inspired twist of fate they have been converted into aquaria. Young and efficient sporty types have taken over, and the ghosts of the black shirts, the Balilla and the Figli della Lupa are gone, replaced by manta rays and shoals of angelfish.