This installation for Giovanni and Marella Agnelli Art Gallery hovers atop the historic and enormous former Fiat factory at Lingotto in Turin, overlooking the city of Torino. The building constitutes the third phase of Piano’s 14-year renovation of the factory, into a mixed-use center with a hotel, shops, and conference space. Built in the 1920 by Matte Trucco, the building was the largest and most modern plant in Europe, both architecturally and in terms of mass production capacity. The Lingotto Factory Conversion was the first example of modular construction in reinforced concrete, based on the repetition of three elements: pillars, beams, and floors.

When it was closed down in 1983, the building had such a great symbolic importance that it was essential to give it a new lease on life. The project consisted of radically transforming Lingotto without betraying the spirit and intended use of its premises, while preserving the overall architectural character and monumentality. By creating public facilities such as an auditorium, an exhibition center, a branch of the educational activities, meeting rooms, a shopping center, a hotel, a 2,600-seat cinema complex, as well as Fiat’s headquarters, Lingotto Factory Conversion has turned into a piece of city.

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The Center Cultural Tjibaou, honored to Jean Marie Tjibaou who killed in 1989 while leading the fight for his country’s freedom from the French government, is devoted to the cultural origins and search for identity of the native Kanak people of New Caledonia and the South Pacific. In the native tongue of Jean Marie Tjibaou, pije language, it is also known as Ngan Jila, meaning cultural center. The indigenous Kanak people live on the islands of the New Caledonian archipelago. In 1991 Renzo Piano won an international competition to design a centre of Kanak culture.

Piano developed his original proposal with the help of local people, including Tjibaou’s widow. The building has subsequently appeared in many architectural publications identifying this site as a significant contribution to world architecture. But more importantly indigenous people are also hailing the building as the first piece of architecture representing Pacific culture. This is ironic as the architect is Italian, the client is French and the location is the last of the Pacific colonies.

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