TURIN. Year after year we have reached thirty springs. It was 1993 when Fai, the Italian Environment Fund, launched the initiative, for the first time, of extraordinary openings of places and art treasures normally closed to the public. Free visits (even if a non-compulsory contribution of 3 euros is suggested) and only tomorrow and Sunday, approximately from 10 to 18 (but it is good to consult the timetables, as well as for booking, at the site: www.giornatefai. it). Among the many initiatives we point out some of the most interesting.
In Turin you can enter the Palazzo del Rettorato in via Po, designed by Michelangelo Garove in 1730, with the possibility of entering the office of the Magnificent Rector, an important representative office. Always linked to the University of Turin, the church and the former convent of Santa Croce, in Piazza Carlina, an environment of Baroque origin which today houses the Department of Animal and Human Biology; the institute of the “Poveri Vecchi” in Corso Unione Sovietica and the former Veterinary School in via Nizza.
In corso Duca degli Abruzzi, the seat of the Polytechnic will open, dated 1958. In addition to learning about the history of the buildings, it will be an opportunity to come across important realities such as Movinglab, a mobile laboratory for studying climate change in urban environments and in remote areas, such as the alpine glaciers, and the VR @ Polito, a laboratory that supports research activities on the use of virtual reality technologies.
In Val Sangone space for the treasures of Villarbasse and in the adjacent Val di Susa, in Bussoleno and Chianocco, will be the turn of the marble and stone quarries, stone materials used for centuries by architects for the creation of the main monuments of Turin. Here, for example, Juvarra got supplies to build the facade of Palazzo Madama. Also in the province of Turin, in Settimo Vittone, the neo-Gothic castle of Montestrutto will be opened.
In Alessandria, after years of closure, the Casa del Mutilato, a twentieth-century building owned by Confindustria, reopens specifically, while in Casale Monferrato space for the Renaissance architecture of Palazzo Gaspardone-Ottavi, for a long time linked to the stays of the Gonzagas. Also in the Alessandria area, in Ovada, Liberty triumphs in the Villa Gabrieli and in the adjacent park.
The opening of the Alfieri Theater in Asti, with access to the “behind the scenes”, as well as to other city theatrical realities, such as Palco 19, Casa del Teatro 3 and Spazio Kor. In the Biella area, in Valdilana, you enter the Regis House, originally from the eighteenth century, but for twenty years a center for contemporary art and culture thanks to the Californian photographer Mikelle Standbridge.
In Cuneo, the doors of the headquarters of the Bank of Italy, dating back to the 1920s, open wide, where a visit to the Academy of Fine Arts is planned. In Stresa, on Lake Maggiore, the Fai will allow access to the halls and sumptuous interiors of the Grand Hotel des Iles Borromèes, one of the most famous hotels in the world