Ivrea, industrial city of the 20th century

Between the 1930s and the 1960s, Adriano Olivetti transformed the city of typewriters into an open-air workshop that was a hotbed of entrepreneurial and social experimentation.

In 1924, there were 400 employees producing around 4,000 machines a year; in 1926, production reached 8,000 machines with 500 employees; in 1929, 13,000 typewriters were produced.

In parallel with the factory's rapid expansion, Camillo launched a series of policies to support employees, creating an initial cluster of houses for workers at the start of the '20s: Borgo Olivetti (the Olivetti Village).

The workshops were expanded several times between 1934 and 1958 by Luigi Figini and Gino Pollini. Olivetti grew rapidly, and its home soon became the "glass factory": a harmonious and geometrically precise facade, linear in its functionality, representing a break with the previous concept of industrial civilisation from an urban planning standpoint.

The proximity of the production sites, the church of San Bernardino and the convent – where Camillo Olivetti had moved with his family in 1907 – is one of the most distinctive features of the industrial city. The church, still owned by the Olivetti family, lies on the edge of the UNESCO site, although it is not among the registered buildings. Inside, you can see the sixteenth-century frescoes by Gian Martino Spanzotti.

"The plan that we present here was drawn up by the architects Luigi Figini and Gino Pollini in 1934 to impose order on the societal problems of a factory limited to a thousand employees at the time.
In these conditions, the plan, although influenced by architectural concepts designed to achieve maximum economy in terms of housing, represents a fascinating attempt to create certain conditions that I will briefly list here: a) Functionality, meaning the overall framework of the worker's social life with respect to the source of life and coordination with educational, recreational and political activities b) Architectural harmony - The plan involved an aesthetic composition incorporating the landscape and harmony between the volumes of each individual building"
Adriano Olivetti

The company canteen is located towards the rear of the workshop complex and is one of the best examples of the dialogue between architecture and landscape.
The hexagonal building, designed by Ignazio Gardella, had many different functions: from the canteen to spaces for reading, cultural encounters and relaxation.

Eduardo Vittoria was also tasked with designing the roof of the H Workshop. In this project, the Neapolitan architect combined functionality and beauty: the roof consists of twenty square skylights, allowing employees to work under natural light with fresh air coming in.

The first studies for Olivetti's main office building, Palazzo Uffici, were drawn up in the Fifties, but it was a few more years until it was constructed. The building was designed to provide a home for the company’s administration, management and marketing departments. The central section, which had three arms coming off it, featured a monumental staircase with a Murano glass roof.

The West Residential Unit, better known as Talponia, was designed as a residence to offer hospitality to Olivetti employees visiting from all over the world for short periods.
The spectacular building was carved into the hill, while the furniture in its lodgings was designed by the architects themselves.

The construction of the industrial city came to an end with the Nuovo Palazzo Uffici (New Office Building) at the end of the 1980s. With this building, the company reasserted Ivrea's position as its management hub during a phase of robust manufacturing growth in which it developed its international presence.