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  NEWS  
 
UPDATE !!

27 march 2012

 
  "THE CULTURE FACTORY" project, for which the Ivrea town council is inviting international submissions for the development of the centre, is online.

 
  read more (in Italian)

 
     
  Ivrea 26-11-2010
Mission accomplished! announcing "The Culture Factory"
 
  read more  
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  Ivrea 26-11-2010
The speech of the mayor of Ivrea.
 
  read more  
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  Ivrea 7-6-2010
Open letter to Ivrea city council
 
  The coordinator of the Promoter Committee, Giorgio Panattoni, writes to the Mayor of Ivrea, Carlo Della Pepa.  
     
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  Turin 8-3-2010
Regione Piemonte supports the project
 
  The Olivetti Museum included in the programme of the chairman of the Regional Authority of Piedmont, Mercedes Bresso.  
 
 
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  Ivrea 13-12-2009
Further details from the Promoter Committee
 
  Indications and criteria for implementation in Ivrea.
 
 
 
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  Ivrea 8-11-2009
Olivetti Museum: initial guidelines
 
  Giorgio Panattoni, coordinator of the Promoter Committee, illustrates the initial project ideas.  
 
 
 
The Olivetti Factory in Ivrea
  … presentation of the factory  
         
 

The Olivetti complex in Ivrea (Turin) is much more than a group of factory buildings. It is a district created for people, serving a full range of industrial and non-industrial functions. In addition to the factories, the Ivrea complex includes housing and recreational facilities such as a library, a canteen, an infirmary, a crèche. While the buildings meet functional needs, they also reflect a pursuit of environmentally sustainable architectural harmony based on urban planning.

The industrial production philosophy developed by Adriano Olivetti, son of Camillo, the head of the Olivetti family and company founder, was an integrated, eclectic approach involving architecture, town planning, the environment and design. The production site itself was delocalized: anticipating the local-global concept, Adriano Olivetti relocated production operations to other Italian and international locations: Pozzuoli, Crema, Barcelona, Frankfurt, Harrisburg, São Paulo, Tokyo …

 
         
  … key dates to remember  
         
 
1908 - ... the first location of the Ivrea company established by Camillo Olivetti, in the famous “red brick factory”, built in 1896;
1896-1958 three subsequent extensions formed the ICO workshops (ICO is the acronym for Ingegnere Camillo Olivetti), on today’s Via Jervis (then Via Castellamonte), designed by two young architects, Luigi Figini (1903-1984) and Gino Pollini (1903-1991);
1934-1936 the first extension of the Ivrea factory: design and construction of a large linear building with a reinforced concrete bearing structure;
1937-1939 the second extension of the Ivrea factory: addition of a new storey to the factory and a project for new rear extensions;
1939-1940 third extension of the Ivrea factory: construction of a new building 130 metres long, with a glass frontage;
1951-1954 construction of the Pozzuoli factory on a site overlooking the Gulf of Naples, designed by architect Luigi Cosenza, who also designed a housing district, to which extensions were added in 1963;
1951-1955 project by Eduardo Vittoria for the Centro Studi building: a central plan with four asymmetrical wings including terraces and balconies, faced with blue klinker tiles;
1956-1957 fourth extension of the Ivrea factory: the New ICO workshop block on via Jervis, which continued the glass frontage solution used on the previous building;
1957-1959 in Guarulhos, between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro on an 85,000 m2 site, construction of a new factory designed by Marco Zanuso. An extension was added in the early 1970s. During the 1990s Olivetti terminated operations and sold the factory to a third party, who converted it into a shopping mall in 2007;
1960-1962 project for a factory building on a 31,000 m2 site in Merlo, near Buenos Aires, assigned to Marco Zanuso;
1960-1963 project for the head office building in Ivrea assigned to Gian Antonio Bernasconi, Annibale Fiocchi, Marcello Nizzoli: a building with a central body and three seven-storey wings. Beginning in 1961, construction of an EDP centre, a rectangular building linked to the head office by an overhead walkway. Landscaping of the extensive grounds by Piero Porcinai;
1965-1968 extensions to the Centro Studi building, designed by Ottavio Cascio;
1966-1970 design of a new 25,000 m2 factory in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, by Louis Isidore Kahn, as part of a landscaped project. The factory was based on a construction module, whose design involved Renzo Piano: an umbrella with a central pillar combined with transparent skylights,. The factory was active for about twenty years; it was sold by Olivetti when running costs became too high;
1968-1970 extensions to the Pozzuoli factory, designed by Roberto Guiducci and the Tekne company;
1968-1972 project for an office building in Frankfurt assigned to Egon Eiermann, consisting of two towers, one for offices and one for housing. In the second half of the 1990s, high running costs forced Olivetti to sell the building;
1960-1970 at the end of the 1960s and early 1970s, completion of construction work on the Scarmagno factory (Turin) and factory projects in Crema and Marcianise (Caserta); in Ivrea work begins on a new residential complex; in Japan the Kenzo Tange building opens; in the UK work is completed on the extension to the Haslemere training centre (Surrey);
1980 - ...

at the end of the 1980s the gradual conversion of the Pozzuoli factory into an office building begins;

1990 - ... at the end of the 1990s, the Olivetti industrial adventure comes to an end; the abandoned company buildings are acquired by a series of buyers, including Pirelli Real Estate;
2000-2006 in 2000 Olivetti converts the Centro Studi building to house the new Interaction Design Institute, with an interior renovation project by Ettore Sottsass. In 2006 the IDI relocates to Milan, and the Centro Studi ed Esperienze is now waiting for a new occupant.
 

[ << ] [ Continued on page 2 ] [ >> ]  
         
 
  NEWS [archive]  
  Rome, 25-11-2010  
  Study conference on Adriano Olivetti  
  The Adriano Olivetti Foundation and the "Federico Caffè" Faculty of Economics at the Roma Tre University organises a study conference on Adriano Olivetti.  
     
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  Ivrea, 17-11-2010  
  One hundred years of Olivetti, the industrial project  
  As part of the IX Corporate Culture Week, an exhibition and cycle of meetings on the Olivetti culture.  
     
  DOCUMENTS  
  Olivetti video playlist on YouTube  
  Collection of historic videos, commercials, interviews and eye-witness accounts on the history of the Olivetti company and the worldwide Olivetti myth.  
  read more  
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  The Olivetti factory in Ivrea  
  The exhibition "One hundred years of Olivetti, the industrial project" and a season of historic films  
  read more  
     
  LINKS  
  Olivettiani  
  Online community of Olivettiani in Italy and around the world.  
  read more  
     
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