In the early 1960s, Bolognese residents balked: what was a slab of concrete doing breaking up the subtle ambers and ochres that define the self-proclaimed “red city”? The contrast was startling — a reinforced concrete wall with a large oculus and a double-ringed shop window stood out against the backdrop of Via Altabella, right in the historic heart of Bologna. This is the Gavina showroom, an architectural gem by the celebrated Venetian architect Carlo Scarpa. It is one of the very few retail spaces Scarpa ever designed, and it is regarded as a small masterpiece of contemporary Italian architecture.
In 1961, Dino Gavina — an enlightened entrepreneur and designer — commissioned Scarpa to design a showroom for his company’s products. The challenge was to insert a new structure into the historic center, in the very spot where the city’s medieval substrate is most visible. Scarpa had already proven his skill at integrating new work into the urban fabric with the Olivetti showroom in Venice (now protected by FAI, Italy’s national trust). Building on that experience, he created an envelope for the medieval Bolognese building and, inside, an exhibition space designed to showcase the creations of Dino Gavina’s company, Gavina S.p.A., a standout name in Italian design. Its roster of designers included masters such as Achille and Pier Giacomo Castiglioni, Ignazio Gardella, and Tobia Scarpa, alongside collaborations with artists including Meret Oppenheim, Man Ray, Sebastian Matta, Giacomo Balla, André Masson, René Magritte, and Jackson Pollock.
From 1961 to today, the showroom has passed through many hands, including periods of inactivity and, unfortunately, neglect and lack of maintenance. After a stint as a shop selling art-design toys, since 2020 it has housed a clothing and vinyl record boutique. It was under this latest incarnation, thanks to the new owner, that a meticulous restoration was carried out under the supervision of the Soprintendenza alle Belle Arti (the regional heritage authority), returning the space to its original splendor. The fountain with Mario De Luigi’s mosaic is once again working, and the columns can be appreciated in their full grandeur. The additions made to adapt the space for a clothing store sit in harmony with Scarpa’s architecture, which lends itself well to this purpose: it was a space conceived to display and to sell, a spirit that has carried through its evolution from design showroom to clothing store.
Now in private hands, the former Gavina showroom has undergone a restoration that was sensitive to Scarpa’s art, carried out with care and respect. One question remains: what role might Bologna’s public administration have played in protecting and showcasing this site? And what would have been the most fitting way to give visitors passing through this space a sense of Carlo Scarpa’s renowned atmospheres — the work of that singular mastery Philippe Duboy called the art of exhibiting.
Source: Philippe Duboy, Carlo Scarpa. L’arte di esporre
Photographs copyright Guido De Vincentis
