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https://medium.com/@danielstone/olivettis-ivrea-how-an-italian-tech-giant-built-the-world-s-most-progressive-company-town-557cb035c383>
"If you trace the path of the Dora Baltea River in early spring, when it swells
with melting snow from the Matterhorn, you will quietly arrive at what first
appears to be any other small Italian town. Yet in the 1950s, Ivrea was the
site of an unheralded experiment in living and working.
The Olivetti Company, founded in 1908 by Camillo Olivetti, was now run by his
ambitious Son Adriano, and looked a lot like Apple Inc does today — it was at
the forefront of technology, blending design and functionality in ways that had
never been seen before, reshaping the office landscape around the globe. This
was in no small part because of Adriano Olivetti, who was not a conventional
businessman. He was political and had strong inclinations toward humanism. He
was a self-taught student of city planning, and he read extensively the
architectural and urbanist literature of the day. He hired famous designers to
work on his products, making some of them, such as the 1949 Lettera 22
typewriter and the 1958 Elea 9003 mainframe computer, into icons of design.
As Italy began to build out of the war, Adriano’s passion for design
transformed into a comprehensive corporate philosophy. This vision aimed to
enhance every aspect of company life, from the design of a space bar, the
colour schemes in advertising, and the living standards of its employees. Ivrea
was the bold manifestation of this.
In Ivrea, Olivetti didn’t just build a factory; it constructed a vision.
Employees weren’t merely workers; they were participants in an experiment of
living. Education was a given, with sales and trade school courses available
on-site. Cultural enrichment peppered their lunch hours, with actors,
musicians, and poets providing daily diversions. Retirement wasn’t a concern
but a promise of dignity, ensured through substantial pensions.
Housing was not just provided but crafted, with modernist homes and apartments
available for those who wanted to embrace the company’s vision of living.
Children were nurtured, cared for without cost, while mothers-to-be were
granted an almost unheard-of 10 months of maternity leave. World class
healthcare, social services, and recreation were provided for free. July was
not just a month but a breath of life, a time for employees to reconnect with
their agrarian roots, tending small farms, bridging the divide between the
urban and the rural in a harmonious balance.
And the buildings — factories, canteens, offices, study areas — were not mere
structures but statements. Designed by leading Modernist architects, including
Luigi Figini, Gino Pollini, and Le Corbusier, they stood as airy palaces with
glass curtain walls, flat concrete roofs, and glazed brick tiles.
Published in January 1960, just weeks before he died, his book
Citta
dell’Uomo (City of Man) called for urban development “on a human scale”, with
the goal being “harmony between private life and public life, between work and
the home, between centres of consumption and centres of production”. Olivetti’s
Ivrea was more than a place of work; it was to be a model for Italy and the
world."
Via Yifei.
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
