A museum opened in Nuvola Lavazza, the new headquarters of the Italian coffee company – designed by architect Cino Zucchi and inaugurated in April at the presence of the mayor of Turin, Chiara Appendino – it is, of course, the Lavazza Museum. From the 50 lire promissory note signed in 1885 by Luigi Lavazza to the first espresso pod machine designed to allow astronauts to enjoy their Italian coffee even in space; a journey through 120 years of history guided by a special interactive cup. The Lavazza Cup handed to visitors at the entrance of the museum allows them to activate installations and multimedia contents and to record the visitor’s itinerary.
The itinerary goes through five themed areas: “Casa Lavazza”, with the family album and images from the company’s archive; “La Fabbrica”, illustrating the coffee production; “La Piazza”, to celebrate the ritual of coffee, “L’Atelier”, designed as a photographic studio with the legendary protagonists of the historic advertising campaigns many Italians grew up with; and “L’Universo”, a dreamlike space where the visitors are immersed in a 360 degree multimedia experience. The itinerary ends with the tasting of a special coffee design recipe.
Lavazza vice president Giuseppe Lavazza explained: “It’s a flexible museum, with many levels of reading, entertainment, and technology. There are the historical advertising of the company that characterized our childhood, there are a didactic part and an interactive itinerary. All of this makes it a museum, open to everybody. A museum that is fun, but holds many memories. A place that contains many aspects, education, science, design, and technology.”
Maria Elisabetta Plini