Lugano Arte e Cultura (LAC) is a polyfunctional cultural centre dedicated to music, visual and performance arts in

Lugano Lugano (, , ; lmo, label=Ticinese dialect, Ticinese, Lugan ) is a city and municipality in Switzerland, part of the Lugano District in the canton of Ticino. It is the largest city of both Ticino and the Italian-speaking southern Switzerland. Luga ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. It houses the Museo d'Arte della Svizzera Italiana (MASI) and hosts events such as "LuganoInScena" and "LuganoMusica". The

Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana The Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana (OSI; literal translation, Orchestra of Italian Switzerland) is a Swiss orchestra based in Lugano. The orchestra's primary concert venue is the ''Auditorio RSI''. The OSI also gives a concert series at the S ...

has its base at the LAC.

History

Lugano Arte e Cultura was inaugurated on 12 September 2015. The director is Michel Gagnon. Gagnon was previously the artistic director of the

Place des Arts Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, a populated area lacking its own municipal government * "Place", a type of street or road name ** Often ...

in Montreal.

Architecture

The LAC centre was built by architect Ivano Gianola, an exponent of the Ticino School of architecture. The building has a total volume of 180,000 m³ and welcomes visitors in a 650 m³ entrance hall with large windows, aimed at rendering the boundary between indoor and outdoor. The cultural centre defines the Piazza Bernardino Luini, overlooking the lake of Lugano. The theatre and concert auditorium with 800 m² allows seating for 1000 people. The museum is spread over three exhibition floors with a total surface area of 2500 m².

Art Exhibitions

The LAC houses the Museo d'Arte della Svizzera Italiana (MASI). One floor houses displays from the museum's collection whilst the other two floors host temporary exhibitions. Since its opening, the MASI has organized exhibitions of

Anthony McCall Anthony McCall (born 1946) is a British-born New York based artist known for his ‘solid-light’ installations, a series that he began in 1973 with "Line Describing a Cone," in which a volumetric form composed of projected light slowly evolves ...

Albert Oehlen Albert Oehlen (born 17 September 1954) is a German artist. He lives and works in Bühler, Switzerland and Segovia, Spain.

Nicolas Party Nicolas Party (born July 1, 1980, in Lausanne, Switzerland) is a Swiss visual artist. He lives in New York City and Brussels. He is known for his multi-media interdisciplinary immersive exhibitions. Biography He received his BFA degree from the ...

and

James Barnor James Barnor HonFRPS (born 6 June 1929) is a Ghanaian photographer who has been based in London since the 1990s. His career spans six decades, and although for much of that period his work was not widely known, it has latterly been discovered b ...

. As from 2018 the director of the MASI is Tobia Bezzola.

References

{{coord, 45.9994, 8.9482, type:landmark_region:CH, display=title 2015 establishments in Switzerland Art museums and galleries in Switzerland Museums in Ticino Lugano Art museums established in 2015 Culture in Lugano