On 11 December 2026, Turin’s Central Civic Library will open its new home in the Torino Esposizioni complex. Around 150,000 documents will share the building with study areas, workshops, spaces for families, an auditorium and places for meeting and exchange.
The library will occupy a building that belongs to the history of twentieth-century architecture. Torino Esposizioni retains structures designed by Ettore Sottsass senior and the large reinforced-concrete vaults built by Pier Luigi Nervi between the late 1940s and the early 1950s. A project developed by ICIS, Isolarchitetti and Rafael Moneo’s studio adapts these spaces to a new purpose while keeping their main structures legible.
The project is therefore more than a transfer of collections from the current premises in Via della Cittadella. It also changes how the library can be used. Alongside open shelves, the new building will offer around 1,400 seats, areas for children and teenagers, spaces for individual and group work, a café and a bookshop.
Accessibility is a central part of the design. The library will provide books in different formats, resources for blind and partially sighted people and for people with dyslexia, as well as assistive technologies. Routes, signs, furniture and acoustic comfort have been planned to support different ways of moving independently, reading, studying and spending time in the building.
The relationship with the surrounding area is part of the project too. Courtyards, gardens and new entrances will connect the library with Valentino Park. The new venue will sit within VALE, a cultural and university district that also includes the Teatro Nuovo, the Borgo Medievale, the Botanical Garden and spaces belonging to Turin’s universities.
The transformation of Torino Esposizioni brings two forms of heritage into conversation: a modern architectural landmark to be preserved and a public library responding to changing ways of reading, meeting and accessing knowledge. The building will not simply contain the library. Its opening to the city is part of the service it provides.
