LAMATILDE - FIATCAFÉ500
lamatilde has designed the new FIATCafé500, inaugurated by Pinacoteca Agnelli and FIAT.
Located inside Casa 500 – the space dedicated to the iconic FIAT car, on the fourth floor of the Pinacoteca Agnelli picture gallery – the new FIATCafé500 merges the will to showcase the history and the design of the 500 with the desire to create a special place for people to meet and share experiences. The FIATCafé500, overlooking Lingotto’s legendary rooftop track and a spectacular view of the city of Turin, represents a unique opportunity for visitors to dive deep into the stories and imagery of the Casa 500 exhibition space, to live and relive them fully. Managed by Gerla 1927, FIATCafé500 is an outlet for storytelling as well as a wonderful panoramic terrace that Pinacoteca Agnelli and FIAT invite visitors to enjoy, shortly after opening the Pista 500 to the public. The new café will welcome guests who are ready to visit the exhibitions, walk around the suspended garden on Lingotto’s roof, explore the art installations that will add to its beauty, or who simply want to take a break in a unique, iconic and evocative location.
The concept brought to life by lamatilde creates a sense of continuity with the double – industrial and cultural – nature of the location, with a visually light solution that uses reflective materials, tying in with the context. The goal was to harmonize the interiors as an extension of the structure that contains them, aligning them with the rhythm and pace of the existing architectural elements.
The project follows the iconic car’s industrial approach: a metal body that in this case becomes a convivial “cabin”, developed around the materials, stories and images of the FIAT 500. In keeping with the design approach of the historical 500, and recalling in particular its balance between aesthetic and functional aspects, lamatilde has used a metal surface to define and cover the cafeteria area, as if it were the bodywork of the space itself.
This cover volume, made of Fenix with a satin steel finish, blends fluidly with the architecture and turns into functional furniture, transforming at both ends into the bar counter and into the convivial table.
On the sides, the structure is characterized by an installation surface that pays homage with a graphic composition to the popularity and social impact of the Cinquecento in the 1950s and 1960s.
At the center of the interior space, the reception area is completed by Harmo chairs in black lacquered beech, Round tables with Fenix top by Infiniti, and Pop Chapeau and Pop P200 lamps by OTY Light.
A perspective rigor defines the external space of the FIATCafé500, which takes up both the use of metal to make long convivial tables and the centrality of tables and chairs – in this case, Tondina stools and Sys sofas by Infiniti – reinforcing the continuity between indoor and outdoor.
