100 Years of Lingotto: Fiat’s Iconic Architecture and the Birth of Italian Industry

2023-05-22 07:00:00

Fiat is celebrating the 100th birthday of the former Lingotto plant and its iconic architecture: a century has passed since the production facility was inaugurated on May 22, 1923 and turned the district of the same name in the northern Italian metropolis of Turin into an important industrial center in the country. The famous central building with its approximately 500 meter long facade and the “la Pista” test track on the roof remains the “engine” for ideas and inspiration.

At its time the largest automobile factory in Europe, the rise of the brand manifested itself in the 20th century. “Exactly 100 years ago, the Lingotto plant was officially opened by my great-grandfather. It was a very proud moment, a big step for Fiat and for all Italian industry,” reports Ginevra Elkann, President of Pinacoteca Agnelli. With reference to the famous architect, urban planner and designer Le Corbusier, she adds: “He once described the work as one of the most impressive spectacles that industry has ever offered.”

Lingotto is an icon of Italian industry, stands for renewal and change and is still a motor for new ideas, adds Elkann: “In the 1980s we were looking for a new purpose for the building. My grandfather decided to turn it into the multifunctional center that we see today: shops, offices, hotels and culture in the Pinacoteca Agnelli art gallery.”

For four decades, the transformed Lingotto complex has been open to the public and houses, among others, the art collection of Giovanni and Marella Agnelli. Today the Pinacoteca is one of the most visited museums in the city. The hanging garden on the roof, the Casa 500 and the “Fiat Café 500” have become meeting places for the younger generation, says Elkann. (awm)

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