Turin’s ex Fiat del Lingotto factory, and its adjacent test track, have been transformed into Europe’s largest roof garden.
The vast roof garden, situated atop the modernist, cement curves of Fiat’s Lingotto factory, was born via the joint effort of Turinese architect, Benedetto Camerana, and the botanist, Cristiana Ruspa.
It is a linear park that highlights the city’s biodiversity, with over 40,000 plants belonging to 300 diverse species, all displayed in 28 island-shaped planters that are located inside the factory’s original concrete test track.
Giacomo Mattè Trucco (1869-1934) originally conceptualised the Lingotto complex as a temple of manufacture; a five-story production line that avoided the sprawling structure of Fiat’s American counterparts, favouring a more vertical solution. Proudly crowning the building’s summit would be a test track with steep cement banks.
Salvaged from industrial obsoletion, the track is now reborn as La Pista 500, exclusively used for electric vehicles, including bicycles and scooters. The surrounding vegetation was designed to maximise biodiversity, reducing the need for excessive water consumption.
The track is accompanied by a learning centre, a cultivable garden and even areas dedicated to contemplation and meditation.
Possible course of action:
the transformation of a cement factory into a public green space is a “profoundly symbolic” act, serving as a physical and tangible representation of a company’s eco-sustainable ambition.
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