A Raceway on the Roof of a Former Fiat Factory in Turin Is Now Home to a Lush Open- Air Art Space
The Pinacoteca Agnelli has opened La Pista 500, a new exhibition venue located on a historic track used to test drive cars.
Courtesy of Pinacoteca Agnelli, Torino Credit: Mybosswas
The Pinacoteca Agnelli art hub is nestled on the top floor of the Lingotto, one of Turin’s most recognizable buildings, a sprawling reinforced concrete and glass structure that is somewhat of a nightmare to navigate.
The former Fiat car factory, which shuttered in 1982, was once hailed by Le Corbusier as one of the most impressive sights in history. Indeed, it has a particular winning feature: a rooftop pista where new cars were once tested at high speeds along a pair of parabolic bends.
Four decades later, that test track has now been given a purpose once again. To marks its 20th anniversary, the arts institution has launched La Pista 500, a new public art space that takes over more than a kilometer of the old highway on its roof alongside a revamped program that seeks to redress some of the omissions of its in-house collection.
In an impressively short time-span of six months, the all-female team brought together eight international artists for their inaugural outdoor project which is highlighted by two new commissions, including Cally Spooner’s mesmerizing DEAD TIME (Melody’s Warm Up) (2022), a sound piece where cello exercises from Bach’s Cello Suite No. 1 are interspersed with the sounds of cars; the work echoes around the car ramp which reacts like a soundbox.