Palazzo Lancia (Lancia Palace), also known as Grattacielo Lancia (Lancia Skyscraper), is a

high-rise building A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdictio ...

located in the northern

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

city of

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

. It was originally commissioned by

Gianni Lancia Gianni Lancia (16 November 1924 – 30 June 2014) was an Italian automobile engineer, industrialist and racing enthusiast, known for running the Lancia carmaker in Turin (1949–55). Born in Fobello (near Biella), he was the older son of Vince ...

, president and son of

the founder ''The Founder'' is a 2016 American biographical drama film directed by John Lee Hancock and written by Robert Siegel. Starring Michael Keaton as businessman Ray Kroc, the film portrays the story of his creation of the McDonald's fast-food rest ...

of Italian

automobile manufacturer The automotive industry comprises a wide range of company, companies and organizations involved in the design, Business development, development, manufacturing, marketing, and selling of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industry ...

Lancia Lancia () is an Italian car manufacturer and a subsidiary of FCA Italy S.p.A., which is currently a Stellantis division. The present legal entity of Lancia was formed in January 2007 when its corporate parent reorganised its businesses, but it ...

, to serve as main

headquarter Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

s for the company.

History

In the early 1950s Lancia produced cars, buses, trucks, motors, spare parts and panels for vans. The company had less employees and workers per head than Fiat, but needed to build central headquarters within which it could house offices and important meetings. In

, no such place existed amongst the small company-owned factories. Gianni Lancia, president of the company, wished to bring management, accountancy and engineering offices under one roof. The project was laid down in 1953 by Lancia's own ''Servizio Costruzioni'' under Italian architect Nino Rosani, with consultancy from

Giò Ponti Giovanni "Gio" Ponti ( ͡ʒo18 November 1891 – 16 September 1979) was an Italian architect, industrial designer, furniture designer, artist, teacher, writer and publisher. During his career, which spanned six decades, Ponti built more than a ...

. The contract was given to SAICCA, and construction started in March 1954. Gianni Lancia never saw the building he wanted become operational, as control of the Lancia company was passed to cement industrialist Pesenti family in 1956, and the building was finally completed in March 1956.

Ownership

From 1957 the building served its intended function of Lancia's management and technical headquarter. In 1969, Fiat S.p.A. took over a heavily indebted Lancia from the Pesenti family, and with it the ownership of Palazzo Lancia. By the 1990s Fiat started to move offices away, progressively emptying the building. Paolo Monti - Servizio fotografico - BEIC 6355805

Paolo Monti - Servizio fotografico - BEIC 6355805

In March 2005, Fiat S.p.A. sold the unoccupied Grattacielo to Torino 05, a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

between

real estate Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...

firms

Beni Stabili is a Japanese R&B singer, who debuted in 2004 under the Avex Trax label. In 2008, Arashiro left Avex Trax and transferred to Universal Music Japan where she started to perform as simply Beni (stylized as BENI). She was initially best known fo ...

and Gefim (42.5% each) and Fiat Partecipazioni (15%). In 2008 another

real estate developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re- lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to othe ...

, Patio Immobiliare, purchased in turn the building for a reported 15 million Euros, planning to transform it into luxury

flats Flat or flats may refer to: Architecture * Flat (housing), an apartment in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other Commonwealth countries Arts and entertainment * Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch * Flat (soldier), ...

. After having carried out some renewal work the company filed for

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

in 2013; Palazzo Lancia is currently awaiting to be auctioned to pay off its owner's debts.

Description

Palazzo Lancia is built like a bridge over Via Vincenzo Lancia, which passes underneath it. In such a position it joined together the northern and southern halves of Lancia's

Borgo San Paolo Borgo may refer to the following places: Finland * Borgå France * Borgo, Haute-Corse Italy * Borgo (rione of Rome), a ''rione'' in the City of Rome. *Borgo a Mozzano, in the province of Lucca *Borgo d'Ale, in the province of Vercelli *Borgo di ...

plant, which was crossed by the pre-existing road as it had been built and acquired in various stages between the 1910s and the 1940s as Lancia's operations grew. Most of the building consists of office space, with an added meeting room for the top board of the manufacturer's executives.

Notes and references

Notes

References

Sources

External links

Grattacielo Lancia on skyscraperpage.com
{{Lancia Buildings and structures in Turin Modernist architecture in Italy Lancia