The former San Bernardino Gres complex was established in the Colognola district between the early 1900s and the mid-1970s as the site of a factory of the Austrian Gres Company, a leading manufacturer of ceramic stoneware materials that had been present in Italy since 1887.
The complex covers an area of about 60,000 m2, including offices, two warehouses, storehouses and a clearance structure. In the 1950s, houses for the company's employees, located at number 149 and architecturally similar to the INCIS district in Milan (1949), were also added, based on a project designed by Albini and Helg.
Closed in 2012 after changing ownership a few times, in 2016 the ex-Gres underwent its first makeover with the construction of the IceLab ice arena. Since 2022, the redevelopment project leading to the foundation of gres art 671 has begun.
gres art 671 is a center animated by creative energy that was created thanks to a major urban and community regeneration project, promoted by Fondazione Pesenti and included in the context of Gres Hub.
Dedicated to leisure and culture, it was created with the specific intention of combining beauty and social impact, creating spaces where people can meet and enjoy various cultural initiatives, from meetings to exhibitions, from musical events to performances to educational workshops.
The redevelopment aimed to preserve the features and memory of the place, proof of a time of great economic development. The two spaces have evolved through the creation of a façade space and the creation of a green area, but the transformation to a contemporary key has respected the industrial stratification. Even the name is related to the roots of the complex: 671 is the number of the state highway that runs alongside it.
Surrounding it, a garden and other public spaces that extend the cultural attractions to the evening hours.
The former San Bernardino Gres complex was established in the Colognola district between the early 1900s and the mid-1970s as the site of a factory of the Austrian Gres Company, a leading manufacturer of ceramic stoneware materials that had been present in Italy since 1887.
The complex covers an area of about 60,000 m2, including offices, two warehouses, storehouses and a clearance structure. In the 1950s, houses for the company's employees, located at number 149 and architecturally similar to the INCIS district in Milan (1949), were also added, based on a project designed by Albini and Helg.
Closed in 2012 after changing ownership a few times, in 2016 the ex-Gres underwent its first makeover with the construction of the IceLab ice arena. Since 2022, the redevelopment project leading to the foundation of gres art 671 has begun.
gres art 671 is a center animated by creative energy that was created thanks to a major urban and community regeneration project, promoted by Fondazione Pesenti and included in the context of Gres Hub.
Dedicated to leisure and culture, it was created with the specific intention of combining beauty and social impact, creating spaces where people can meet and enjoy various cultural initiatives, from meetings to exhibitions, from musical events to performances to educational workshops.
The redevelopment aimed to preserve the features and memory of the place, proof of a time of great economic development. The two spaces have evolved through the creation of a façade space and the creation of a green area, but the transformation to a contemporary key has respected the industrial stratification. Even the name is related to the roots of the complex: 671 is the number of the state highway that runs alongside it.
Surrounding it, a garden and other public spaces that extend the cultural attractions to the evening hours.
