Annual report 2004 - Compagnia di San Paolo

Institutional activities in 2004
Arts
The rehabilitation of Palazzo Siccardi in Turin
In the field of the restoration of the civil monument
heritage, during 2004 the Compagnia decided to operate
in the historic centre of Turin through the renovation of
Palazzo Siccardi. That initiative, for which a grant of €
1.5 million was resolved, was not limited to the
restoration of a historic building, but plays a decisive role
in the reclamation of an urban area. Revitalisation was
necessary of an entire block, seriously at risk due to the
Palace conditions, an architecturally interesting
monument which still retains, despite the serious state of
dilapidation, precise traces of the complexity of its
construction stages. Following the surveys carried out
prior to commencement of the restoration works, some
extremely important decorations emerged which were
believed to have been lost forever. This caused the City of
Turin, also at the request of the Superintendent for Artistic
and Historical Heritage of Piedmont, to provide the
building with an intended use capable of enhancing the
building and making it usable by citizens. The project
offers the restoration of the building, which shall be used
as civic library and multi-purpose room for the Historical
Archive in the parts housing the decorations, while the
remaining wing will hold fifteen subsidised public
housing units.
The restoration of Palazzo Siccardi allows not only the
regeneration of a building of historic interest, but above
all of an entire area in the heart of the city which has been
disused and uninhabited, and which today represents
unfortunately a discordant and dilapidated element.
Through a highly-attended service the library and multipurpose
room will enrich Turin with a new “cultural minidistrict”
formed by Palazzo Siccardi, the Historical
Archive of the City of Turin, and the exhibition space of the
Antichi Chiostri (Ancient Cloisters).
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