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Title:
Olivetti builds : modern architecture in Ivrea

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Summary:
Olivetti’s headquarters in Ivrea, near Turin, were designed by several leading architects of post-war Italy (Figini, Pollini, Gardella, Zanuso, Sottsass, Valle etc.) and offer an exceptional case study of the relationship between architectural culture and a leading, progressive company. This book offers a critical interpretation of the rich, unique architectural patrimony of Ivrea, seat of Olivetti’s headquarters, the most famous typewriter company in the world. A detailed catalogue of the open-air museum of modern architecture in Ivrea, the text reconstructs the events from the ’thirties to the ’fifties surrounding Adriano Olivetti and his relationship with architecture and urban planning. In the mid-thirties Adriano Olivetti began not only a renewal of industrial production, but also a long process of construction of the territory and its landscape. Beginning in 1945 Ivrea became a reference point not only for Italian intellectuals interested in constructing a new civil society, but also a mecca for architects and urban planners, who brought his ideas to life through their work. Architects such as Luigi Figini and Gino Pollini, Ignazio Gardella, Marco Zanuso, Eduardo Vittoria, Ettore Sottsass, Gino Valle, urban planners such as Giovanni Astengo, Carlo Doglio, Luigi Piccinato not only gave form to the community but also, through the individual works built in Ivrea, contributed to the complex Italian and international architectural debate.