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The “Living Art Park” (“Parco Arte Vivente” – PAV) covers the area of a Turin metalworking company that was abandoned in the early 90s. Opened in 2008, PAV was devised as an experimental centre for contemporary art in motion; not as a static container but as an evolving artistic landscape that changes its shape on the basis of the current events and trends; temporary exhibitions, permanent installations and artistic experiments take place there on regular basis.

The park covers a total area of 5.8 acres, with only 897 square yards used for a single building: a sort of octagonal cell, containing service facilities, classrooms, educational laboratories, restrooms, and the exhibition path that houses the “Bioma” installation by Piero Gilardi.

Conceived according to the principles of bioclimatic architecture, that structure is perfectly integrated with the surrounding landscape thanks to landfills that reduce heat loss and form a hill; the latter connects the pedestrian square with the internal courtyard.

The roof of the building houses the “Jardin Mandala” designed by Gilles Clément: a hanging garden of about 598 square yards consisting of stonecrop (Sedum) and grass on a background made of sand and assorted pigments.

The green area of the park is mainly made of a flat lawn, with no marked paths, intended to host the artistic installations, including “Pedogenesis” by Andrea Caretto and Raffaella Spagna, “La Folie du Pav” by Emmanuel Louisgrand, and “Taking Over” by Andrea Gedin, as well as the first permanent installation “Trèfle”, by Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, made with an embankment of reinforced earth, in the shape of a four-leaf clover, completely covered with grass. Its shape was inspired by the underground Coptic Ethiopian churches of the Middle Ages, with a Greek cross plan, and, at the same time, it represents a natural element which brings good luck.

According to the many events organized by PAV, different areas are traced in the lawn to increase the contrast between the natural element and the works of art installed, thus defining different visitors’ paths from time to time.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)