Ivrea, industrial city of the 20th century

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Ivrea, Industrial City of the 20th Century: A Model Social Project

Ivrea, a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont region, Italy, is renowned as the industrial city of the 20th century. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018, Ivrea offers a unique blend of industrial innovation, architectural design, and social experimentation that reflects the ideals of the Community Movement (Movimento Comunità).

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UNESCO Description of the World Heritage Site

The industrial city of Ivrea is located in the Piedmont region and developed as the testing ground for Olivetti, manufacturer of typewriters, mechanical calculators and office computers. It comprises a large factory and buildings designed to serve the administration and social services, as well as residential units. Designed by leading Italian urban planners and architects, mostly between the 1930s and the 1960s, this architectural ensemble reflects the ideas of the Community Movement (Movimento Comunità). A model social project, Ivrea expresses a modern vision of the relationship between industrial production and architecture.

UNESCO Justification of the World Heritage Site

Criterion (iv): The industrial city of Ivrea is an ensemble of outstanding architectural quality that represents the work of Italian modernist designers and architects and demonstrates an exceptional example of 20th century developments in the design of production, taking into account changing industrial and social needs. Ivrea represents one of the first and highest expressions of a modern vision in relation to production, architectural design and social aspects at a global scale in relation to the history of industrial construction, and the transition from mechanical to digitalised industrial technologies. The attributes of the property are: the spatial plan of the industrial city, the public buildings and spaces, and residential buildings developed by Olivetti (including their extant interior elements). The influences of the Community Movement on the provision of buildings for residential and social purposes is an important intangible element, although the functions of most non-residential buildings have ceased.

Encyclopedia Record: Ivrea

Ivrea is a town and comune of the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. Situated on the road leading to the Aosta Valley, it straddles the Dora Baltea and is regarded as the capital of the Canavese area.

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