Buildings of historical importance
Palavela (Torino)
Category: Buildings of historical importance
The Palavela was originally designed by architects Annibale and Giorgio Rigotti for the “Italia 61” exposition, on the occasion of the first centenary of the unification of Italy. The restoration works commissioned by the Città di Torino (Council of Torino) to Gae Aulenti took place for the 2006 Winter Games. Gae Aulenti obtained two structures from this extremely innovative work, somewhere between architecture and engineering, with an enormous inside space delimited by side glass panels and by the crossing of three covering vaults, and he jointed these two bodies with a reticular cover. There was of course a wish to respect the pre-existing structure, but it was also an unavoidable choice due to the sail shape, that is higher only near the central parts of the arches on which it rests. Aulenti placed a second asymmetric building inside the original building, inscribed within a circle that has a diameter of 150 metres, and is connected with the original structure revealing different perspectives from different angles. The new Palavela, in fact, has two different views today: in one it appears as a compact body with a constant height, and in the other it shows all the complexity of its different volumes.
Information
Via Ventimiglia, 145 - 10127 Torino
