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Designed by architects Camerana & Partners

Pista500 is a unique exhibition space located on the iconic testing track atop the Lingotto building, the former FIAT car factory in Turin, Italy. Inaugurated in 2022 as part of the Pinacoteca Agnelli's expansion projects, Pista500 reimagines and transforms the historical track of the renowned Italian car brand, once inaccessible to the public and a source of pollution, into a public space promoting care for the environment, community, and culture.

The new rooftop, designed by architects Camerana & Partners, has been transformed into a garden and outdoor exhibition path, showcasing works by international artists and creative practitioners who read the site's industrial heritage with a contemporary gaze. Accessing the exhibition area is a transformative experience from the visitor's perspective. The journey begins at the base of the building complex. It ascends through a spiraling car ramp, offering a unique opportunity to engage with over a century of incredible architecture and history, ultimately reaching a height of 28 meters on the rooftop.

Pista500, Overview image, ph. Amedeo Martines, August 2024

Atop the building, the visitors find themselves within a testing car circuit fully equipped with parabolic turns and observation areas. If in the past, this unique place was used to test the new car models, today it is only open to electric vehicles such as scooters and bicycles as well as electric FIAT car models. This rooftop, once covered with black asphalt, traffic lights, and observation towers, now features a hanging garden of 40,000 plants belonging to 300 indigenous varieties from the Piedmont region.

Pista500, Detail of the hanging garden, ph. Amedeo Martines, August 2024

The garden, designed in collaboration with Giardino Segreto Studio, is considered the largest roof garden in Europe. Its 7.000 square meters span the entire 1.1 km car racing loop. The garden is thoughtfully divided into several thematic areas, each reflecting the seasonal color variations of the plant species. The selection of plants has been guided by sustainable principles, prioritizing choices that require minimal watering and fertilizer consumption.

Tall herbaceous shrubs, dyeing plants, herbs, and hazelnut groves are a few typologies that characterize the hanging garden of Pista500. With their diverse sizes and volumes, these species bring a dynamic energy to the surrounding rigid architecture. Their thin, flexible structures sway gently in the breeze, adding a sense of movement and vitality to the space.

Pista500, Detail of the garden species, ph. Amedeo Martines, August 2024

Complementing the wild nature of the hanging garden, the space features artworks ranging from sculpture, contemporary design, photography, and sound installation. The authors displayed are internationally known practitioners, and each year, Fondazione Agnelli integrates the collection with new additions. The artworks are specifically conceived by artists for this unique space, sometimes experimenting with test track features and urban elements, linking the visitor’s experience with a functional purpose. Since its inauguration in 2022, Pista500 has showcased prominent artists such as SUPERFLEX, Liam Gillick, Nan Goldin, Marco Giordano, and Alicja Kwade, among many more.

Superflex, “It Is Not The End Of The World”, 2019-2022, ph. Amedeo Martines, August 2024

This year, the curatorial team introduced three new site-specific artworks, by Finnegan Shannon, Felix Gonzalez-Torres, and Rirkrit Tiravanija.

“Do you want us here or not?” (2024) by Finnegan Shannon is an installation featuring six bright blue wooden and stainless-steel benches scattered across the track. Each bench bears handwritten phrases inviting visitors to sit and rest, an act that subtly challenges the ideology of speed of the racing circuit. In particular, Shannon's work focuses on inclusivity and accessibility in public spaces, emphasizing non-conforming bodies and disabilities. In an environment meant for racing, such as Pista500, the installation of Shannon offers a welcoming space for those with physical challenges, highlighting the importance of considering diversity and providing opportunities to recover from the physical fatigue that a prolonged museum visit can cause.

Finnegan Shannon, “Do you want us here or not” detail, 2024, ph. Amedeo Martines, August 2024

“Untitled” (1991) is a black and white photograph of an unmade double bed displayed on a monumental advertising billboard atop the rooftop of Pista500 and in various other locations throughout the city of Turin. This artwork, created by conceptual and minimalist artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres, reflects his exploration of the boundary between public opinion and private life, focusing on the gay community and societal attitudes toward the HIV pandemic. The intimate, domestic scene depicted in the photograph contrasts with the surrounding urban environment and other advertisements, evoking the presence of absent bodies on the bed and alluding to themes of loss, illness, and isolation. More than 20 years after its creation, this powerful work continues to challenge societal norms and encourages reflection on how our collective perception of public space has evolved.

Felix Gonzalez-Torres, “Untitled”, 1991, ph. Amedeo Martines, August 2024

The third addition of Pista500 is the artwork of Rirkrit Tiravanija, “Untitled 2024 (غدا هو السؤال) (明天才是問題) (mañana es la cuestión) (mâine este întrebarea)”. Seemingly totally out of context, four ping-pong tables appear at the bottom of the parabolic turn of the track. The artist invites visitors to engage in play, offering a new perspective on the space and challenging the traditional notion of art as something merely to be observed. Tiravanija's philosophy centres on human relationships, viewing art as a process, a happening that is inseparable from human interaction. Unlike ordinary ping-pong tables, the artwork of Tiravanija features on each table top the phrase “Tomorrow is the question” translated into the languages of the four major ethnic communities of Turin: Romanian, Moroccan, Chinese, and Peruvian. The artwork becomes a statement for people to reflect on their power as active players in society as well as the concept of national belonging.

Rirkrit Tiravanija,
“Untitled 2024 (غدا هو السؤال) (明天才是問題) (mañana es la cuestión) (mâine este întrebarea)”,
ph. Amedeo Martines, August 2024

From the visitor's point of view, the fruition of Pista500 is truly a novel experience, not only because of the stunning location, considered an impressive example of urban archaeology, but especially for the layered experience offered to the visitors. The racing track, converted into a pensile garden showcasing monumental installations, is an unmissable experience that surprises positively, standing out uniquely from other international contemporary art institutions.