Design - Piemonte Feel

The same is true for architecture. Mollino has remained the undisputed genius of Piedmont modernism, as seen in his opera house foyer for Turin’s Teatro Regio and his mountain lodge, Lago Nero, near Sauze d’Oulx. Yet, there are other wonders of modern architecture to be seen at Turin´s Michelotti Park, once the site of the zoo. Renzo Piano designed the so-called light blue bubble on roof of Lingotto, the former factory building, as well as the so-called jewellery box of the art gallery there, the Pinacoteca Agnelli – structures that have changed Turin’s skyline forever.
On the other hand, there is also a generation of emerging architects who seem to have the energy to keep up with the masters who have gone before them. There is Uda, which built its elevated additions at Ilti luce. There is Granma with its cosmopolitan Parco Dora project in the Spina 3 section of Turin. Finally, there is Elastico with its one-family houses spread over the region.

Any thorough account of the heritage of Piedmont design must include graphics. There is the strong heritage left by Bodoni, the eighteenth-century Piedmont typographer. Over the years the Tipografia Nebiolo has created type characters that have been used for entire generations. Those designed by Aldo Novarese are especially memorable. There is an important Piedmont tradition of design in advertising. There are long-established firms such as Bgs D’Arcy and Armando Testa, which has designed the by-now iconic billboards for the vermouth Punt e Mes and Carpano and Lavazza coffee’s Carmencita. There is also a newer generation of advertising agencies, such as InAdv, Phoenix, and Fore. There are emerging creative groups, such as Bellissimo, 515, BadriottoPalladino and BoletsFernando. All of these have innovative styles and international approaches.
Trun is the name that has been given to a “new design community” founded in Turin in 2005 with over 100 associates. This association interprets design not only as a result but also as a process of thought and is evidence of the ferment in the local atmosphere of young people in the fields of graphics, design, architecture, and communication. Once again it seems that people in Piedmont may be quiet, but they do want to make an impression.