OGR Turin: the Culture Factory

The OGR — Officine Grandi Riparazioni — were for a century the railway maintenance workshops at Corso Castelfidardo 22. Closed in 1992, reopened in 2017 after a €60 million restoration as a cultural and innovation centre. The result is one of Europe's largest exhibition spaces in an industrial building: two parallel sheds (each 350 × 50 metres), an events area holding 5,000 people, international contemporary art exhibitions (recent years: Maurizio Cattelan, Cardi Black Box, OGR Turin x Frieze). Programme at ogrtorino.it. Exhibition entry varies from free to €15. Evening events (concerts, DJ sets, cinema) in the west sheds — monthly calendar. The in-house bar/restaurant (OGR Caffè) is one of the few quality addresses near Porta Susa. Reach by metro line 1, stop Bernini (5 minutes on foot).

Pinacoteca Agnelli and the Lingotto

The Lingotto (Via Nizza 230) is the world's most famous Fiat factory — a building from 1923 where cars were assembled from the ground floor up to the roof and test-driven on the elevated concrete track on top. The track still exists and is open to visitors. Renzo Piano converted it in 1989 into a multipurpose centre: hotel, auditorium, conference centre, shopping centre, and at the top the Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli (access via the Bolla — Piano's glass pod suspended above the roof). The Pinacoteca has a permanent collection of 25 works: Canaletto, Tiepolo, Matisse, Picasso, Modigliani, Renoir, Manet — selected personally by Gianni Agnelli over decades. Ticket: €10 adults. Hours: Tuesday-Sunday 10am-7pm. Rooftop track visit (€3 extra) available in separate time slots. Reach by bus 35 from Porta Nuova (15 minutes) or on foot from San Salvario (20 minutes).

GAM, PAV and Castello di Rivoli: the Contemporary Art Circuit

Turin has three internationally significant contemporary art institutions within 30km. The GAM — Galleria Civica d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea (Via Magenta 31, Tuesday-Sunday 10am-6pm, €15) is Italy's oldest active modern art gallery: 47,000 works, permanent collection from the 19th century to current digital art. Particularly strong on postwar Italian art (Arte Povera, CoBrA, Transavanguardia). The PAV — Parco Arte Vivente (Via Giordano Bruno 31, Friday-Sunday 12-7pm, €5) is an experimental contemporary art centre focused on bio-ecological art and the relationship between art and nature. Outdoor space with permanent installations in a park. Castello di Rivoli — Museum of Contemporary Art (Piazza Mafalda di Savoia, Rivoli, 20 minutes from Turin by car, Tuesday-Friday 10am-5pm, Saturday-Sunday 10am-6pm, €12) is the world's leading institution for Arte Povera: permanent collection with Kounellis, Pistoletto, Penone, Merz. Site-specific installations in a 17th-century Savoy castle.

Evening in Quadrilatero and San Salvario

Turin's nightlife concentrates in two neighbourhoods a few minutes apart. The Quadrilatero Romano (north of Piazza Castello) is the aperitivo district: Via Botero, Via Bellezia, Via Santa Chiara, Piazza IV Marzo. Bars open from 6pm and stay lively until 2am. The food-included aperitivo works everywhere here — avoid bars with laminated menus and English pricing, seek those where all clients are local and the barman knows everyone by name. San Salvario (multicultural district south of Porta Nuova) is where you eat and then go out: Via Madama Cristina, Piazza Madama Cristina, Via Saluzzo. Younger and less polished than Quadrilatero, with Arabic bars, ethnic restaurants, pizzerias and cocktail bars. Clubbing: Bunker (Via Paganini 0/200, techno electronic music venue) and Club to Club Festival (November, various venues) are the internationally known scenes. Blah Blah (Via Po 21) for indie and alternative concerts. Magazzino di Gilgamesh (Lungo Dora Siena 48) for jazz and live music.

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