Foreword This guide, for tourists, regular visitors and locals, tells the story of Turin’s many faces. Through places, people and anecdotes, it narrates the city of yesterday and today. The Turin of tradition, but also the new Turin, reinventing itself every day, welcoming experiences and projects, difficult to get to know if you don’t live there, and do not chase it along its many underground ways. Turin is discovered anew every day and constantly reveals unknown sides even to its inhabitants who, lifting their gaze to the façade of a building or lowering it to the footpath, understand that this city hides even from those who know it best. Roman, a little Renaissance, then Baroque, art nouveau and contemporary, aristocratic and working class, technology and magic, rational and secular, Turin has always been The Capital: that of the long centuries of the duchy and the Savoy reign, and then that of 1861 and an Italy that was being born, and yet again, of the Alps, of industry and work, of immigration, sport, food and contemporary art. A multifaceted city in which a love of tradition lives alongside the desire for renewal and to remain in the game. These competing desires live among buildings with piercings and mausoleums of morganatic wives, diners with checked tablecloths and historic cafés with sumptuous velvets, visionary architects such as Antonelli or Mollino and enlightened entrepreneurs such as Riccardo Gualino, among flea markets and elegant pedestrian squares, 19th-century glazed-window galleries and anti-aircraft shelters, wines and street art, partisan memoirs and sporting memories. Certainly, visitors concentrate above all on the grand attractions, such as the Egyptian Museum and the Cinema Museum, but in every corner of the centre and its suburbs the city offers something unexpected. A place or a history that tells the story of the many Turins and its citizens, both old and new.
111 Places 1_ Abele Group Binaria
Dining centre with a silent room | 10
2_ The Academy of Sciences
The place of the sum of all knowledge | 12
3_ The Arsenal at Balôn
Peace and writers in the Turin ‘thrift shop’ | 14
4_ Art of the Barriera Area
The blind façades with Millo’s children | 16
5_ The Art Nouveau Capital
On foot through Little Turin and beyond | 18
6_ At the Gatto Nero
At dinner with Armando Testa | 20
7_ The Automobile Museum
The place to dream of the perfect car | 22
8_ Balôn
Where the voices of Fruttero and Lucentini echo | 24
9_ The Barolo Opera
Social housing, art and much more | 26
10_ Basic Village
The ‘If you love me, follow me’ factory | 28
11_ Bazar Bonino
Cards, games, wigs and party horns | 30
12_ The Beccaria Obelisk
The ‘esoteric’ astrolabe of Turin’s meridian | 32
13_ The Bela Rosin
The mausoleum of the countess who was queen | 34
14_ Bich, Inventor of the Bic A Turin anomaly | 36
15_ The BIT of Italy ’61
The UN in Turin | 38
16_ Bolaffi Auction House
Not just rare stamps | 40
17_ The Borgo Medievale
A fairy-tale castle in the park | 42
18_ Bottega Fagnola
The scent of paper | 44
1__ Abele Group Binaria Dining centre with a silent room
In Turin, the Abele Group (founded in 1965 by Don Luigi Ciotti) is a real institution, loved by the citizens for its efforts in the social field and its welcoming spirit. Its many projects (including the famous ‘Libera – Associations, names and numbers against the mafia’, the ‘Parents and Children’ projects, the day centre Drop House for women of every nationality living in disadvantage or poverty, the service for the victims of prostitution and trafficking or the education activities for minors) also include Binaria. It is the ‘dining’ centre of the Abele Group Factory, which houses a pizzeria (la Binaria Berberé), a library (la Binaria Book), an education and play space for children (la Binaria Bimbi) and, last but not least, la Binaria Bottega, a sales point where you can find products from the ‘Semina’ and ‘Libera Terra’ projects, which focus on cultivating the lands expropriated from the mafia, ensuring (as one can read in the explanatory material) ‘the freedom and dignity of people’. The complex activities were carried out in a former industrial shed which, until the mid-Seventies, was home to CIMAT (Italian Construction Machinery Tools Turin), then part of the vast satellite activities of Fiat before closing its doors in 1976. Binaria is in the San Paolo zone, once a working-class area and seen as the outskirts of the prestigious and bourgeois Crocetta zone. Today, it is undergoing a big renewal, making enormous efforts to be seen for what it is: a comfortable residential area close to the centre, but with a decidedly lower cost of living, and therefore, with an incredibly low average age of inhabitants (but only right here). It is definitely worth the effort to make your way to 34 Via Sestriere, even just to taste the seasonal organic pizza, one of the many things they can be proud about and a good indicator of yet another successful Abele Group project. 10
Address 34 Via Sestriere, Turin 10141 | Getting there Bus 22, 33 or 42 to Capriolo; bus 2 to Peschiera | Hours The pizzeria is open from 7pm, the library and store: Mon 4 – 10pm, Tue – Sun 10am – 10pm | Tip Lancia Tower, a skyscraper designed by Nino Rosani in consultation with Gio Ponti studio (well before the Pirelli Tower in Milan) and the Fondazione Merz (at 24 Via Limone) is located inside the former heating plant of the automobile company.
4__ Art of the Barriera Area The blind façades with Millo’s children
Millo, born Francesco Camillo Giorgino in 1979, is a street artist from Apulia, now resident in Pescara where he studied architecture. He earned his fame by painting enormous murals that revolutionised the urban landscape of big cities, from Milan to Rio de Janiero. In 2014 in Turin, his work Habitat won the international B.ART – Arte in Barriera competition (www.arteinbarriera.com), by the City of Turin, the Urban Committee Barriera di Milano, announced by the Fondazione Contrada Turin in the sphere of Urban Planning, and financed by the European Union. Millo has painted 13 blind façades in Turin’s historical Barriera di Milano zone. His style is by now a trademark: clean lines almost exclusively in black and white, with a few points of colour (hearts, Lego bricks, noses, mouths and ears). His murals are rich in detail and often incorporate elements of the surrounding architecture. They are all public art, linked by a single main theme: the relationship between humans, perennially out of scale, and the urban fabric. Habitat is a great success, involving citizens, associations and schools and becoming an attraction in its own right, drawing many bus and bicycle tours. Turin’s Urban Regeneration Programme, which ended in 2016, identified art as the main tool of urban regeneration, with activities like ‘The school adopts an artist’ and the ‘Promenade of art and industrial culture’ in the new Aurelio Peccei park. Today, Barriera di Milano is home to artists’ studios and galleries. A highlight is the MEF-Museo Ettore Fico, named after the Biella painter, where modern and contemporary arts discuss ideas with design, fashion, cinema, dance and literature. The broad and luminous spaces in a former factory, reshaped by Alex Cepernich and director Andrea Busto, are worthy of a big international museum. There is also a bar-bistro, open to the public. 16
Address Wide zone around Corso Giulio Cesare, between Corso Novara and Corso Vercelli, and Via Bologna and Via Sempione, Turin 10154 and 10155 | Getting there Various buses and trams. On the website www.arteinbarriera.com there is a map that shows, among other things, all of Millo’s works | Tip Don’t miss out on a breakfast with Sicilian and Neapolitan pastries at Alfio Micci (108 Corso Vercelli), with brioche, pastries of all kinds, granitas, cakes and fried rice balls. In the same street, at number 79, the pizzeria Il Cavaliere is a typical ‘Barriera’ restaurant, bright, cheap and with very friendly staff. Don’t miss its farinata (chickpea flour pancake), deep pan pizza and artisanal ice cream.
7__ The Automobile Museum The place to dream of the perfect car
Norma Desmond is the unforgettable main character of the film Sunset Boulevard (1950), which tells the story of a diva of silent cinema, now retired but eager to make a comeback into the world of sound cinema of the Fifties that has turned its back on her. There are five main characters: Gloria Swanson, William Holden, Erich von Stroheim, the villa with a pool (around which events take place) where Norma Desmond lives, and her car, a 1920s convertible Isotta Fraschini limousine, with a jaguar interior, and an intercom to speak to Max, her faithful major-domo-chauffeur. The Isotta Fraschini was by definition the car of the rich and its charm surpassed that of any other car: to verify this, you only have to go to the Automobile Museum, where you can find the very one that belonged to Norma Desmond (with the initials ND, de rigueur). The museum is located on Corso Unità d’Italia, like a spacecraft has just landed in the Piedmont capital. You might find yourself staring open-mouthed at this example of futuristic architecture typical of the Sixties; the museum was built in the 1960s in the zone that would become, a year later, the site of the events celebrating the first centenary of Italian unification (see ch. 15). The designer was Amedeo Albertini and since then, no Turin child has not visited with their parents or on a school trip, because this museum is an important piece of city culture. Dedicated initially to Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia, in 2011 it was renamed after Gianni Agnelli, on occasion of the expansion by Cino Zucchi and refurbishing by François Confino with the studio LL.TT. It is worth making the trip to this part of the city, because it is a unique experience (for children and parents alike). Don’t forget, once you are in front of the museum, to rotate 180˚ for an unparalleled view of the Turin hills, of which the city is very proud. 22
Address 40 Corso Unità d’Italia, Turin 10126 | Getting there Bus 18, 24 or 35 to Biglieri | Hours Mon 10am – 2pm, Tue – Sun 10am – 7pm | Tip The nearby Lingotto, restored to new life by Renzo Piano, hosts well-known and prestigious structures such as the Auditorium and the Pinoteca Marella and Giovanni Agnelli, but also less well-known places, such as the Orthodontics Museum at the University Dental School (230 Via Nizza). While you’re there, treat yourself to an aperitif or dinner in the Torpedo restaurant’s ‘garden of delights’, in NH Torino Lingotto (262 Via Nizza).
40__ The Fantastical Antonelli The challenge of the slice of polenta
New York has the Flatiron Building, Turin has the polenta slice. We make do. The Big Apple’s building, inaugurated in 1902 between Fifth Avenue and Broadway, is so narrow at the tip (only two metres) that New Yorkers entertain themselves by betting how long it will be able to resist the wind. The Turinese must have thought something similar, more than 50 years earlier, when they saw the slender residential building in the Vanchiglia area. They baptised it the ‘slice of polenta’, due to its triangular shape and yellow colour. The architect, Alessando Antonelli, was engaged in vast property speculation in the surrounding neighbourhoods, which, back then, were very run down. He was unable to buy the adjoining lot, but wanted to show that he could nonetheless build a house, gaining in height (nine floors, of which two are underground) what he lacked in width. In 1840 the first four floors went up, followed by two more, until, in 1881, as a further demonstration of technical dexterity, the current crowning element was added, with the balcony embedded in the cornice. It exploits every inch of space: the narrowest part (54 cm) houses the systems and plumbing, while the windows jut out to save space. Having won the challenge, Antonelli gave the house to his wife, calling it Casa Scaccabarozzi (her surname). They lived there for some years, then moved to 9 Via Vanchiglia, also designed by Antonelli. At the end of the Seventies, Renzo Mongiardino redesigned the interior for Giancarlo Bussei. Thirty years later, between 2008 and 2013, the Franco Noero Gallery held exhibitions here and now owns the residence. Just as New Yorkers got used to tall buildings, the Turinese quickly got used to Antonelli’s genius. The slice of polenta is a masterful proof of the technical skills that the architect carried to extremes in the Mole Antonelliana, which is named after him. 88
Address 9 Via Giulia di Barolo, Turin 10124 | Getting there Tram 16 to Vanchiglia; bus and tram 15, 30 or 55 to San Maurizio | Tip In a neighbourhood that is full of bars as far as the eye can see, Margò (9 Via Bunvia) is a pleasant place in which to drink and eat excellent slices of cake, alternative and fashionable (without being too hipster, a phenomenon that has fallen into disuse), LGBTQ friendly and popular with local young people, it is one of the most interesting places in the area.
68__ Museum of the Mountains Panorama on the Alps: the birthplace of skiing in Italy
The most recent arrival is Walter Bonatti, and many others will be added. In the more than 50 boxes of recent donations, there are precious mementoes of the famous mountaineer, explorer and journalist, nicknamed ‘King of the Alps’: his water bottle, covers of Epoca and Paris Match featuring him, the teddy bear Zizì and the boots from his (final) climb up the Matterhorn in 1965. And the legendary white helmet with Peg-leg Pete on it. It is no coincidence that these things arrived at Turin’s National Museum of the Mountains (named after the ‘Duke of Abruzzi’, Luigi Amedeo of Savoy-Aosta, an explorer and mountaineer who held many records between 1897 and 1909). In fact, the 19th-century Savoy capital was also the capital of the mountains: this is where the Italian Alpine Club (CAI) was first formed, where skis were imported into Italy in 1896 by the Swiss engineer Adolf Kind (who owned the beautiful ‘secessionist’ villa by architect Michele Frapolli near Valentino and who founded, in 1901, the first Italian ski club, the Ski Club Torino). In 1874, the members of CAI founded the museum, building the ‘Vedetta Alpina’ on the square, a tower from which to admire the extraordinary view of the mountains. From 1888, the rooms were set up, in a former Capuchin monastery (by Ascanio Vitozzi at the end of the 16th century). Refitted for the 2006 Turin Winter Olympic Games, the rooms represent an ascent among the peaks that surround the city, symbolising themes such as religion, communication, tourism, mountaineering, the Alpine Club, skiing, winter sports, exploration and the environment. The climb finishes on the terrace, where you can admire the city below and over 400 kilometres of mountains. The museum has a documentation centre, a historical film library and temporary exhibits. On the lower level, a very panoramic restaurant looks over the city. 144
Address 7 Piazzale Monte dei Cappuccini, Turin 10131, www.museomontagna.org | Getting there Tram 13 to Bonsignore; bus 53 to Cappuccini; bus 66, 70 or 73 to Gioannetti; bus 53, 55 or 66 to Gran Madre | Hours Tue – Sun 10am – 6pm | Tip The area at the foot of the Cappuccini has always been one of the most elegant and prestigious residential areas of the city, the ‘foothills’ (see ch. 43): exclusive villas, boutiques, tranquillity, SUVs and a bit boring. Villa Scott (57 Corso Giovanni Lanza) is an Art Nouveau masterpiece by Pietro Fenoglio, made famous in Dario Argento’s Deep Red. A little way away, at the bottom of the scenic Corso Fiume, rises the picturesque Casa dell’Obelisco (1 Largo Crimea), curvilinear ‘paradox’ alla Gaudì, designed in 1954 by a then-young Sergio Jaretti and Elio Luzi, to negate the dogma of the Modern movement with one of the most ‘eccentric’ designs with which Turin abounds.
70__ OOLP
Art, architecture, design, gardening, fashion
OOLP stands for Out Of London Press, and it is one of Turin’s most interesting bookshops. It was founded in 1978 and immediately specialised in art texts, to which it added photography, fashion, architecture, design and gardening. Since 2008 this small cultural jewel, in which books are still almost a fetish, has been in the hands of two business partners, Giovanna Martini and Elena Vellano. When they took over, they decided to continue the long work of founder Giovanna Sartori, further deepening the search for texts from all over the world that make this a unique place. In 2013, they relocated from Via Principe Amadeo to a new shop at 36 Via Maria Vittorio, in the heart of the city. In the small and orderly interior, composed of two rooms inevitably covered with shelves and books, you immediately get a feel for the 15,000 volumes that furnish the place. The owners demonstrate their passion for publishing every day, thoroughly scouting the big international publishing houses for their chosen themes. And so in the display window, between a book on Singer Sargent and one on Arte Povera, an impressive display includes items like a monograph on Dries Van Noten, Irving Penn, Russell Page, Soviet architecture and interior decorater Billy Baldwin. Here you can find whatever you can imagine if you’re interested in the topics that are the mark of this piece of Turin culture. The endlessly patient owners always suggest the right book for each person’s needs. And, obviously, they can order in a book that you’re looking for (and even deliver it to your house, if you’re not resident in Turin). The OOLP steals you away into an almost dreamlike reality that does not exist outside the bookshop, a phenomenon that is hard to find elsewhere, especially in a world in which buying a book often follows the logic of a supermarket. 148
Address 36 Via Maria Vittoria, Turin 10123 | Getting there Bus and tram 13, 15, 55 or 56 to Sant’Ottavio; bus 18, 61 or 68 to Po | Hours Tue – Sat 10am – 1pm & 3.30 – 7pm | Tip A few doors down, facing onto one of the most beautiful squares in Turin, Piazza Carlina (recently redeveloped with abundant underground parking), is Lovever (9 Via San Massimo). It is not a sex shop, but instead defines itself as ‘the first concept store dedicated to love’: it sells products for ‘love-therapy’ and erotic games for all sorts of couples, and also ‘experimental’ singles…
105__Turin Bestiary I
The Juvarra buildings in Via Milano, and more
In the central street Via Milano, previously known as Contrada Italia or Contrada di Porta Palazzo, three eye-catching buildings by Juvarra are decorated with sculpted stone animal heads. The crossroads where these 18th-century buildings are located (the fourth side is occupied by the masterful Mauriziana basilica) is nicknamed the ‘bestiary’ or ‘animaleria’. The first building is at number 13, in what was once called the ‘Saint Ignazio Block’, and boasts enormous bulls’ heads, which are the symbol of the city. The second is on the opposite side of the street at number 18 in the ancient ‘Saint Rosa Block’, and is decorated with lions’ heads. The building originally belonged to Count Faussone of Germagnano, who featured this feline on his coat of arms. Finally, at number 11, otherwise known as the ‘Saint Domenico Block’, right next to the mediaeval church (the only one in the city) of the same name, is a building (today occupied by a café) topped by dogs’ heads, meant to protect those who enter. But why a dog? Symbolically, the dog protects his owner. During the Inquisition, the Dominican brothers were seen as protecting Christians from heresy, and this is where their nickname ‘Domini canes’ came from, the dogs of the Lord. Right here, next to the church of San Domenico, is where the Inquisition held its tribunal. However, these are not the only animals in the city: on the façade of the city hall, just a few metres away in Piazza Palazzo di Città, you can find a great quantity of bulls, and likewise on the Cassa di Risparmio headquarters in Via XX Settembre, which has around 30. Bulls are everywhere: from the famous toret (Turin’s public drinking fountains; see ch. 51) to those set into the pavement outside the Caffè Torino in Piazza San Carlo. Wherever you look, walking around the city, you can see one decorating some building or other. 218
Address Along Via Milano until Piazza Palazzo di Città, and then in Via XX Settembre, Turin 10121 and 10122 | Tip For those enjoying this walk around Christmas time, we recommend the annual exhibition of ‘Artists’ Lights’ (from the end of October to midJanuary). Usually the installations rotate and change locations and are often loaned out to other cities, but Piazza Palazzo di Città has for years been the regular location of the Tappeto Volante (Flying Carpet) by Daniel Buren.
The authors Maurizio Francesconi (Turin, 1974), is a journalist and fashion historian, a lecturer in the History of Fashion and Semiotics of Fashion at the Istitute Europeo di Design in Turin and is also invited to fashion week in Paris for Collezioni. He follows the runways (with precision), comments on them (with wit) but is sadly famous in the editing office for making a fool of himself on the side of the catwalk. He is the translator of The History of Modern Fashion by Daniel J. Cole and Nancy Deihl for Einaudi and is also the author of other works. With Alessandro Martini, he is the co-author of 111 Places in Langhe, Roero and Monferrato That You Shouldn’t Miss (2018).
Alessandro Martini (Turin, 1972) is a journalist and architectural historian, an inquisitive resident of Turin, the city in which he loves to live, and since 2007 a professor in the History of Architecture at the Politecnico di Torino. Since 2000 he has been curator of the News and Museums section in the newspaper Il Giornale dell’Arte. He was among the creators of the Museo Torino, the city’s online museum inaugurated in 2011. He wanders around museums and new and old architecture, travels, and has written articles, essays and several books. With Maurizio Francesconi, he is the co-author of 111 Places in Langhe, Roero and Monferrato That You Shouldn‹t Miss (2018).