Turning Point

“Turning Point. Reveal the future” is the new cultural programme conceived by Urban Lab to present the great projects that are going to transform Valentino’s Park and Cavallerizza Reale. Two radical changes which are a real turning point in the general process of transformation of Torino and its green and Baroque hearts. A starting point to gather information about these two construction sites whose works have just started and that, like many other works, will be completed in 2026. The exhibition is inside the premises of Urban Lab, in piazza Palazzo di Città, where two dedicated rooms provide an insight of each site through data, images and interviews with the involved players.

• Valentino’s Park. The exhibition follows the axis of the Po river, according to the redevelopment project of the area between corso Vittorio Emanuele II the foothills of Vallere, as illustrated in the orthophoto covering the room floor. The goal of the project, one of the most important cultural investments of the City for the next few years, is to create a unitary and identity system promoting the cultural and leisure aptitude of the park, through the recovery and enhancement of the river navigation services and the existing architectural and historical heritage, as well as their integration with the park landscape and environmental resources. The main actions will be the transformation of the Nervi Pavilion inside Torino Esposizioni exhibition centre with the creation of a new Central Public Library; the renovation of Teatro Nuovo and the restoration of the Medieval Village, with a view to enhancing its accommodation offer and relaunching it as a tourist attraction; the reintroduction of the river ferry-boat service and the reorganization of the park to improve its function and use. Besides the projects promoted by the City, the Architecture, Design and Planning Department of Politecnico di Torino is also taking shape, through the redevelopment of three pavilions inside Torino Esposizioni exhibition centre whose premises will be used as teaching spaces.

• Cavallerizza Reale. This part of the exhibition highlights the great complexity of the royal estate close to piazza Castello, an architectural and urban system of extraordinary value that has been long waiting for a redevelopment in order to be fully appreciated and used. The estate, already comprising the auditorium of the University of Torino inside Maneggio Chiablese riding stable, will also be home to Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo in the wing called Ala del Mosca, while the nearby Pagliere will be used as a cultural hub. Inside the Maneggio alfieriano, the City of Torino has planned to create a multi-functional cultural space and, next to it, inside the Corpo delle Guardie, a Research Node of the University of Torino will be created with a focus on culture, creativity and art. Cavallerizza royal estate will also include the Polo delle Arti, a new specialization and higher education centre of the Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti, Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi di Torino and Fondazione Collegio Einaudi, while the part of the complex overlooking via Verdi and Teatro Regio will be used as an international accommodation facility funded by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (Deposits and Loans Fund) inside the building of the former Military Academy.

In addition to the exhibition which can be visited inside Urban Lab’s premises, the public programme includes a cycle of meetings, guided tours and workshops with schools starting in autumn.

Past, Now, Soon updated.

The journey proposed by Turning point blends with Urban Lab’s permanent exhibition that is subdivided into the “past”, “now” and “soon” sections about the city, updated and accessible to users with specific needs. A large updated orthophoto welcomes visitors as soon as they enter and invites them to explore the territory and learn more about it. On the right, a touch screen shows Geografie Metropolitane, the platform created by Urban Lab to view maps and data about the city, and Torino Cambia, the website of the City of Torino telling all the actions that will be changing the city thanks to national and EU funds and those allocated by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. In the “now” section, a large city map (2.80×3.50 metres) placed on a lightbox, shows Torino’s infrastructure, its main projects and 150 areas that are undergoing transformation or about to be transformed between Torino and its outskirts. The maps and the orthophoto have been developed thanks to the material provided by SDG11 Lab of the DIST Department of Politecnico di Torino. A simplification of the contents and a higher intelligibility of the represented data have been our main drivers, with a view to making them more user-friendly and accessible, thanks to the support of Fondazione CRT.