FIAT Showroom on Beethovenstrasse

Gae Aulenti's contacts with the Agnelli family developed throughout the 1960s, first through Carlo Ripa di Meana (1929-2018), who was the architect's life partner from 1960. At the same time, the remodelling projects for Gianni Agnelli's Milanese apartment at number 9 Via Borgonuovo were developed, as well as the 1968 exhibition designs for FIAT with cars resting on platforms, reminiscent of pop art. From then on, Gae received countless public and private commissions from the Agnelli family. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, there were designs, some realised, some not, for car showrooms (in Milan, Rome, Turin, Vienna, Brussels, etc.) and for trade fairs (in Turin and Geneva, among others), but also more unusual projects such as the invention, for FIAT, of a Cinebox machine. At the end of the 1960s, together with Renzo Mongiardino (1916-1998), she remodelled the Chesa Alcyon in St. Moritz, an early 20th-century chalet on the Suvretta hillside filled with works of art by Klimt and Schiele, for Gianni and Marella Agnelli. Marella would become one of Gae's closest friends, the two united by their passion for art and literature. Los contactos de Gae Aulenti con la familia Agnelli se desarrollaron a lo largo de la década de 1960, primero a través de Carlo Ripa di Meana (1929-2018), que fue el compañero de vida del arquitecto desde 1960. Al mismo tiempo, se desarrollaron los proyectos de remodelación del apartamento milanés de Gianni Agnelli en el número 9 de Via Borgonuovo, así como los diseños de la exposición de 1968 para FIAT con coches apoyados en plataformas, que recuerdan al arte pop. A partir de entonces, Gae recibió innumerables encargos públicos y privados de la familia Agnelli.