Right inside Casa 500, the FIATCafé500 celebrates Italy’s dolce vita and its timeless 500 in a space where the past and present come together in style.
Gerla 1927 makes an encore on the rooftop of the Lingotto: after the La Pista restaurant, the Turin-based brand runs FIATCafé500, opened to the public by FIAT and Pinacoteca Agnelli to mark the institution’s new venture. Located inside Casa 500, the space on the fourth floor of Pinacoteca Agnelli dedicated to the FIAT icon, the new venue merges the desire to tell the story and design of the 500 with the desire to create a special meeting and sharing place for the public.
The FIATCafé500
From 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., from breakfast to aperitif, Gerla 1927 welcomes visitors to the exhibitions, those who stroll through the Lingotto’s suspended rooftop garden, those who go to discover the art installations that regularly enrich it, and all those who want to take a break in a unique, iconic, and evocative setting.
The cafeteria proposal ranges from sweet to savory with all artisanal products made by Pastry Chef Evi Polliotto.
The panoramic location overlooking the legendary Lingotto rooftop runway, with a spectacular view of the city of Turin, makes the venue perfect for aperitifs. Gerla 1927 offers an extensive Cocktail List, and an interesting wine list that includes whites, reds and rosés, with a focus on Champagne and Italian bubbles.
A Symbol of Turin
The lamatilde studio’s concept for FIATCafé500 traces the industrial approach of the iconic FIAT 500: a metal body becomes friendly “cockpit,” developed around materials, stories and images of the FIAT 500; the body delimits and covers the area of the cafeteria, imagining it as the bodywork of the space itself to transform at both ends into the bar counter and the convivial table.
A café has always been a key location for defining the identity of a museum and for involving its audience: in this case becoming the ideal meeting between the new artistic programming of Pinacoteca Agnelli and the museum approach of the Casa 500 space created by FIAT finds its expression in a place of dialogue, meeting and discovery, where many stories intertwine.
Fiat’s Casa 500
The FIATCafé500 develops from the experience of Casa 500 where the history of the mythical automobile is retraced, yesterday, today and tomorrow against the backdrop of the Lingotto building, which has radically altered its image several times: going from a car factory to a place “guardian” of industrial tradition, to a gathering place, to a multifunctional center. Until today when, with the opening of the Pista 500 to the public by Pinacoteca Agnelli and FIAT, the roof of the Lingotto becomes an amazing roof garden, an alluring test drive for the electric 500 and an immersive art project.
The new convivial space FIATCafé500 merges architecture, industrial archaeology, history of the FIAT icon, artistic experience, landscape and nature in one location on the roof of the Lingotto. Through this project Pinacoteca Agnelli and FIAT become the embodiment of a spirit of inclusiveness, dolce vita, but also of values connected to the city of Turin and its history.