VALE, the Valentino cultural hub, is born
News of
On 16 September 2026, VALE — short for Valentino and an allusion to the value (valore) of culture — is born at Turin's Parco del Valentino (Valentino Park): a new diffuse cultural hub networking the Parco del Valentino, the Teatro Nuovo, the Borgo Medievale, the new Politecnico campus, the Botanical Garden, the university premises on corso Massimo d'Azeglio and the new Central Civic Library, in the redeveloped premises of Torino Esposizioni.[1][3][4][5] The hub is presented as a permanent laboratory of citizenship and culture.[2] Mayor Stefano Lo Russo calls it "one of the largest urban projects in Turin's recent history".[5]
The Central Civic Library
At the heart of the project is the new Central Civic Library, opening to the public on 11 December 2026.[4] Its cultural programme is directed by Maurizia Rebola, formerly director of the Circolo dei Lettori and, at the time of her appointment, director of the OGR.[4][5] The building's conversion is signed by the engineering firm Icis and by the studios Isolarchitetti of Turin and Rafael Moneo of Madrid.[5]
Funders
The project, presented on the website valetorino.it, is worth over 200 million euros and involves the City of Turin, foundations and universities.[4][5] The Compagnia di San Paolo has invested over 24 million euros in the restoration of the Borgo Medievale; the Fondazione CRT, according to its chair Annamaria Poggi, is putting in a further 7 million, on top of the 32 million already committed to the city, which ANSA reports went to the road-maintenance plan.[4][5] A first part of the programme is funded for the 2026-2028 three-year period by Reale Mutua.[5]
Lead-up calendar and programming
Ahead of the opening, from November 2026 a lead-up calendar titled "La Biblioteca Immaginaria" ("The Imaginary Library") invites writers and artists to revisit a great classic in symbolic venues across the city: on 5 November, at the Gallerie d'Italia, Chiara Valerio discusses Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose"; on 10 November, in the Sala Fucine at the OGR, Boosta and Matteo Caccia present "Le città inudibili" ("The Unhearable Cities"), echoing Italo Calvino's "Invisible Cities"; on 12 November, in the Reale Mutua auditorium, Paolo Giordano reads from Jorge Luis Borges's "The Library of Babel".[5] Full programming begins in early 2027.[4]
From February, in the Sala Nervi of the new building, the series "Bosco Civico" ("Civic Wood"), devoted to dialogue between nature, science and literature, brings Dacia Maraini on 12 February, the philosopher Telmo Pievani on 16 February and the scientist Stefano Mancuso on 25 February.[5] In spring the hub also becomes the venue for the tenth edition of Biennale Democrazia and hosts events from the Torino Jazz Festival and the Salone del Libro, and later the MiTo festival and the Giornate della Legalità.[5]
Related articles: Biblioteca civica centrale, Borgo Medievale, Inauguration of VALE at the Valentino, Parco del Valentino, Politecnico di Torino, Presentation of the Vale Project in Turin, Stefano Lo Russo, Teatro Nuovo, Torino Esposizioni, VALE
Sources
- Torino, il parco del Valentino cambia volto: nasce Vale tra biblioteca, teatro e università — La Stampa, 16 September 2026
- Nasce il nuovo polo culturale del Valentino, laboratorio permanente di cittadinanza e di cultura — TorinoClick, 16 September 2026
- Inaugurato Vale, il nuovo polo culturale del Valentino — Politecnico di Torino, 16 September 2026
- A Torino nasce il polo culturale Vale, la biblioteca centrale aprirà l'11 dicembre — ANSA Piemonte, 16 September 2026
- La nuova Biblioteca civica di Torino: il programma — la Repubblica Torino, 17 September 2026