GALLERIA SABAUDA TORINO

The project provides for the transfer of the Galleria Sabauda from the Palazzo Accademia della Scienza to the Manica Nuova of the Royal Palace, aiming at generating new interest in Torino on the international cultural tourism circuit.

The transfer of the Galleria Sabauda to the Royal Palace will be the final step in creating the “Sistema dei Musei Reali di Torino” (Palazzo Reale, Palazzo Madama, Duomo, Armeria, Biblioteca e Giardini Reali), providing a perfect consisting between the masterpieces (about 1200 paintings from the twelfth to the twentieth century collected by the Savoia family) and their natural place (the Palazzo Reale).

In this context the project pursues the identification of Galleria Sabauda as a cultural centre of Torino and an integral part of the urban spaces of the city.

The project required a critical revision of the historical building, as it was originally created for other purposes (initially for the administrative offices of the Savoia reign and later for the offices of the Piedmont Region), to ensure its adaptability as a museum attributing to Galleria Sabauda a new, rediscovered identity.

To solve the inadequacy of the central distribution space of Manica Nuova for the purposes of the museum, the project evolved the central space from a simple corridor to strategic exhibition area linked with other exposition rooms.

The exhibition space, organized by way of rooms and galleries, is designed to enhance the symbolic value of the return of the Galleria Sabauda to its natural environment, seeking to recreate the original atmosphere for admiring those valuable works of art.

Client:
Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities

Project team:
OBR
Studio Albini Associati,
Rick Mather Architects
Vittorio Grassi Architetto,
D’Appolonia
Favero & Milan Ingegneria
Manens Intertecnica
Aubry & Guiguet
Programmation
Carlo Bertelli
Noorda Design
Castagna RavelIi Studio
Onleco
Studio Lo Cigno
GAe Engineering
Paolo Bombelli

OBR design team:
Paolo Brescia and Tommaso Principi,
Pelayo Bustillo, Andrea Casetto, Gaia Galvagna,
Elena Martinez, Margherita Menardo,
Gabriele Pitacco, Paolo Salami, Tiziana Sorice,
Francesco Vinci, Barbara Zuccarello

Photography:
Mariela Apollonio
Carola Merello

Location:
Torino, Italy

Dimensions:
built surface 6,960 sqm

Chronology:
2014 end of construction
2007 detailed design
2006 concept design
2004 preliminary design
2003 design competition (first prize)