Must-see buildings in Turin

After last weeks musings about whether you should or shouldn’t go on an exchange (read it here), I thought I would share some of the buildings I have visited in Turin when my father visited me three weeks ago (one other pro of going on an exchange, is that people come visit you and you can explore new things together!). What follows are some of the things we went to see, which should definitely (or definitely not) be on your to see list as an architecture enthusiast when visiting Turin.

The old FIAT factory

The first thing we visited, besides the tourist office to figure out how to get there and how to get public transport tickets, was the old FIAT factory. Besides it being an interesting reuse of a building (it is now a shopping mall), it has the old race track still on the roof. We started of seeing the part where the cars used to drive up to the roof, but now it is used as a walkway up to the other levels of shops.

After a long search through the building, we finally figured out how to get to the roof. You just have to use the elevator in the middle that is also used by the art gallery that has been added on the top. It is completely free to go to the roof, so if you come to Turin, definitely visit this place! There is almost no one there and the view is great.

25 Verde

Next up was a find of my mother, who had found a picture of this on the internet and we decided to see if we could find it in real life. It is called ’25 Verde’ and it is located on via Chiabrera 25. It is a building combining trees and plants into the facade, making the whole thing look like a garden/jungle/tree house. It is awesome and you should definitely try to find it! (more information can be found on the website here)

Parco Dora

This one was a bit of a disappointment. It is the reuse of an old factory hall as a park, and although it is definitely being used it has also been neglected. There is a lot of graffiti and I can image it having a creepy vibe in the evening/at night.

Church next to Parco Dora

What was however definitely worth the visit, although we did not know we were going there, was the church next to Parco Dora. It is a beautiful modern church with an exhibition space in the basement. The inside is made of brick and the church tower is an old industrial chimney.

There are of course a lot of other things to see in Turin as well, like the museum of cinema, which is in a unique kind of building, or the musea and other sights. However, I think these are some of the less known sights to see in Turin and I really enjoyed visiting them.

Have you been to any of these places? And if you’ve never been to Turin, where would you like to go?