The city of Adriano: Functionalism out of the Box

Ivrea is an archetypal example of an industrial city unique in both its intentions and architectural results.The contribution aims reading the history of Ivrea through its three seasons: from the Olivetti’s experience to the industrial crisis and the related termination of the production system, up to the recent application and subsequent recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. An exceptional building laboratory that involved the most innovative architects of the time, Ivrea experienced its first season enhanced by a sense of community - «Comunità» was also the title that Adriano gave to his magazine - and by its sound connections with the surrounding area. It is this sense of belonging that constitutes the value of the uniqueness of this experience. The disposal of the industrial heritage, due to the inevitable crisis of the production system, required the consideration of the tangible heritage of this period of thought, the methods for preservation and enhancement, the elements of residual quality and the highly innovative content of the “untested experimentation”. In this context, the experience of the Museo a cielo aperto delle Architetture Moderne olivettiane (MaAM, 2001) is based. The museum has definitely been the impulse for a collective awareness towards the preservation and protection of this heritage through the design of guidelines for the management of transformations. This initiative has been included and enhanced by the urban plan, which adopts its values, launching its dissemination and educational purpose in a process set for an in-progress renewal. In 2008 the candidature was submitted and let to the recognition by UNESCO in 2018 as “Industrial City of the Twentieth Century” thanks to its peculiarities founded on a social and productive system inspired by the community that includes human, environmental and architectural values.