Triennale Milano opens new space dedicated to research, memory and innovation

Triennale Milano inaugurates Cuore - Centro studi, Archivi, Ricerca, a new space dedicated to research, memory and innovation. Located on the ground floor of the Palazzo dell’Arte and intended as a flexible and evolving place, Cuore was created to bring out the design and research work that underlies all of Triennale’s activities. A 400-square-meter space designed to welcome visitors, the scientific community, scholars and researchers, but also a network that unites universities, superintendencies, public and private foundations, and companies. Cuore is accessible free of charge during Triennale opening hours (Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.).

Concept, architectural and exhibition design of the space were developed by AR.CH.IT Luca Cipelletti. The architectural project is part of a larger activity to enhance and restore the original design of the Palazzo dell’Arte elaborated by Giovanni Muzio in 1933, which Triennale is carrying out on the entire building. The space is designed to enhance the dialogue between architecture and exhibition design, creating an environment in which modular elements are intended to renew themselves over time.

There are three main functions of this new space. The first is related to research with the reactivation of the Triennale Study Center, founded in 1935 and active until 1990, which is coming back to life after more than 30 years. The Study Center carries out scientific-academic research in collaboration with national and international universities on central themes of our present, which will be addressed in Triennale’s future programming, but in the future it also intends to develop innovative projects and services, leveraging the institution’s specific skills and knowledge.

The second function is related to Triennale’s archives, library and collections: a multidisciplinary heritage - from design to art, architecture to theater, graphics to photography and audiovisual - unique in the sector that includes more than 300 thousand works, objects, drawings, projects, photographs, correspondences, and books. Archival materials and collections are displayed for the first time in their complexity on a rotating basis and open for consultation. The archives preserve materials related to International Exhibitions and Triennale’s activities from 1923 to the present, including documents, collections of press reviews, collections of posters, drawings and plans, architectural models, materials on theater, more than 30,000 photographs and more than 2,000 films and sound recordings. Triennale’s collection system consists of the Italian design collection, the Giovanni Sacchi collection, and the artwork collection, with monographic holdings of designers and planners including Alessandro Mendini, Cinzia Ruggeri, Ettore Sottsass, Nanni Strada, and Saul Steinberg. The library includes a wide selection of Italian and international titles-more than 22,000 books and 800 periodical titles-available for researchers and enthusiasts to consult freely or by reservation.

Cuore also aims to be a platform for enhancement and dissemination: over the course of the year it will host various collections and archives of public and private institutions, developing in-depth thematic paths. This third function intends to bring together around Triennale a network of entities that collaborate in the activities of preservation, promotion and study of archival heritages.

The entire project follows principles of sustainability and recycling, with a view to lower environmental impact. The material used for the layout is reclaimed wood, and the lighting system leads to an important reduction in energy consumption. In the building, the windows and doors limit heat loss and the systems are aimed at energy efficiency.

The architectural design paid particular attention to the enhancement of space with the recovery of the perspective vanishing point that, from the atrium of the Palace, allows the gaze to reach the large helicoidal staircase designed by Giovanni Muzio. The intervention also saw the redevelopment of the plant elements, the refurbishment of the fixtures and the horizontal upper closure with glass-cement panels that, obscured for decades, once again become a source of zenithal light.

The exhibition design establishes a dialogue between the exhibition content and the architectural container. The exhibition system, aligned with the secondary beams, is generated by the architectural elements of the space and contains a system of extremely flexible modular elements capable of housing content, documents and works of different nature, each with special requirements for preservation and enjoyment. As the requirements related to the use of the space change, the modular elements of the exhibition system can be easily reconfigured. The modular structures, made by UniFor to a design by Luca Cipelletti, use metal and glass as their main materials, pursuing the logic of sustainability that animates the entire project. In fact, the components can be totally disassembled and recycled individually.

Along the entire right wall of the space there is a system of display cases, cabinets and shelves, which covers an area of about 300 square meters and makes the materials of Triennale’s archives and collections usable. The entire equipped wall is covered with an Ecological Panel®, a Made in Italy product made by Saviola through post-consumer wood recycling, thus without cutting down trees, which highlights the materiality of regenerated wood and its technical potential.

In the center of the space, twelve LessLess tables by UniFor allow the setting up of temporary exhibitions dedicated to the hosting and enhancement of archives outside Triennale, which can also be the subject of in-depth study through meetings and conferences, as well as installations and multimedia projects. A second area, organized through the composition of six LessLess tables, allows visitors to consult materials from the archives or from Triennale’s collections (by appointment) and hosts researchers from the Triennale Study Center.

Three ledwalls have been installed on the left wall that can accommodate special insights. A video installation created by propp with music and sound design by Painé Cuadrelli dedicated to Triennale’s International Exhibitions, starting from 1923 to the one in preparation planned for 2025, is presented at this time. The area of the space adjacent to the spiral staircase is equipped with a fourth ledwall to host temporary events such as talks, lectures, presentations, and projections.

The lighting design was developed in collaboration with Erco, which, in continuity with projects and collaborations that have already taken place at Triennale, has provided high performance products that guarantee high quality lighting and high performance in terms of energy savings. The lighting of the interior space with advanced LED technologies, with the transparencies of glass cement, creates light effects on the façade that enhance the architecture even from outside the building.

“In 2023 we celebrated 100 years of Triennale, and this new space was born as a device that looks both to the past and to the future,” said Stefano Boeri, president of Triennale Milano. “We felt the need to create a place where the extraordinary research, study and in-depth work that underpins Triennale’s cultural proposal and makes the institution’s heritage alive is visible and accessible to all. Cuore is a place open to everyone, where it is possible to consult materials from our archives but also to do research and develop ideas for the future thanks to the Triennale Study Center, which is reborn right here.”

“With Cuore we want to develop a platform for research, services, experimentation and cultural production that works in synergy with relevant Italian and foreign realities in the academic, scientific and cultural fields and with emerging and innovative organizations. It is an evolving project that starts from Triennale but intends to actively involve a network of partners, making a wealth of knowledge and reflections on the future alive and active,” concludes Carla Morogallo, director general of Triennale Milano.

Cuore is realized with the contribution of Fondazione Cariplo. Triennale Milano thanks Architectural Lighting Partner Erco, Design Partner UniFor, Technical Partner Saviola, and Institutional Partners Lavazza and Salone del Mobile.Milano for their support for this project.

Photo by Delfino Sisto Legnani-DSL Studio ©Triennale Milano

Triennale Milano opens new space dedicated to research, memory and innovation

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