Basswood model produced for il Centro Studi per l’Architettura Razionale, Roma The palazzina is a Roman building type that evolved out of the housing boom in and around the city following the Second World War. Designed by Mario Marchi in 1929 as a multifamily apartment style building, Palazzina del Pappagallo was constructed in the city of Ostia, directly across from the beach, with vacationers, the sun, and the sea in mind.